Crazy idea..... soybeans and alfalfa planted together.

[Peplin Creek]

So i had this thought... what if a guy got a bag of RR soybeans and RR Alfalfa and planted them in the same plot? Let's say spring time. I planted buckwheat and beans this spring and it worked out well. I didn't care about the weeds because I tilled it all under and planted turnips in late summer. But it got me thinking that the beans could be the draw early and who cares if they get wiped out, eventually the alfalfa would take over and if weeds became a problem, they both would be RR.

This is me trying to revent the wheel, and I am sure there are easier ways to do it.

 

[JFK52]

The beans would canopy and shade out the alfalfa for too long of a period of time is my guess. But if you do it please report your results.

 

[Peplin Creek]

Yeah, this was my thought as well, however if the plot is maybe only an acre there is a good chance the deer might keep them from doing that.

 

[Barndog56]

Sounds great to me if deer will keep beans from canopy-ing. Then they better keep alfalfa browsed enough you don't need to mow it.

 

[JFK52]

How about some RR eagle soy beans which are made for deer to forage the leaves? The deer are going to be eating the leaves of these plants and allowing the sun to get to the ground for the alfalfa. I think that would be a better bet than RR ag soy beans but more expensive also.
The other tactic is to plant a big enough field so that you overwhelm the deer with acreage.

 

[westonwhitetail]

I like that idea, your could also just cut the seed rate for beans in half if the deer don't browse them enough. For me an acre of beans never canopies and having something else to fill in between sounds like a great idea


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[WTNUT]

Well Peplin Creek, that one is out there. I like the creativity because it has me thinking and I like that. It is something VERY different in terms of new ideas. First, I never advocate planting regular alfalfa in a field that isn't large enough to bale or one in which is will not be baled. I have never been able to simply bushog alfalfa and make it work. But, you have thrown in a twist with RR beans. In a pure alfalfa field, I think you stand a better chance of keeping a good stand of alfalfa for a PLOT, as opposed to production. Now, the beans. I assume you are thinking of planting in the spring. Personally, I don't like planting alfalfa in the spring and I think the majority prefer that it be planted in the fall. Spring increases the chances of weed competition. With round up ready beans you could spray both and kill weeds (but I am not sure how established the alfalfa has to be, if at all, before it can be sprayed). I agree the beans are going to be nipped and held in check unless you are planing with 1,000 acres of commercial beans around you. Where I come down on it is it is NOT a bad idea. It is a FUN experiment; provided, you are willing to run the risk of very expensive seed (RR Alfalfa) being planted in the spring and never establishing well, although the risk is low. In the end, I think you are just better off planting it in the fall with a traditional cover crop and spraying the established field in the mid to late spring and again midsummer.


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[sagittarius]

RR soybeans as a cover crop for RR alfalfa. That would be an expensive plot. The deer must keep soybeans mowed down for alfalfa to do well. Would the deer activity pound down the tiny alfalfa sprouts that are slow to get going? It all could work, but it would cost. Early summer, with everything else growing, would the deer really need that expensive protein at that time of year? Then, what is your priority, maintain a alfalfa plot for several years, or take pressure of some other plot?

 

[Bill]

Google "living mulch"
I've always been intrigued by the idea but just don't have the time to try it. Most guys doing it use clover. I like your idea better for weed control if RR weeds are not a problem. (They are for me)

The alfalfa idea would work but I would want established alfalfa that could be sprayed in strips to match the width of a planter.

Like others said it isn't going to be cheap..

 

[Peplin Creek]

My thought process was this, plant in the spring, let the deer feed on the beans knowing full well I probably won't get pods, then have an alfalfa plot for 3 years or so. But those two crops by me always hold the most deer from summer to early-mid fall. I am also not concerned with the cost. I am always trying to search for that magic something that can give me an edge. Not sure if this is it but it was an idea that popped into my head and thought. Why not... i very well might give this a shot in the spring.

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

I like the idea. I think I would plant no more than 30# of beans per acre. You will be better off saying I wish I would have planted more beans than the opposite. If the deer dont keep up with a heavier stand of beans your alfalfa won't survive. If the deer mow down the beans you'll still have the alfalfa.

 

[Peplin Creek]

Yeah no more than 30# sounds like a good idea to me too.

 

[swat1018]

Alfalfa is expensive to use as an annual, and if you don't get a good stand of it initially, you can't improve it later. You will end up with thin alfalfa, once the beans are gone. I didn't read the whole thread, if you are good with a one year stand of alfalfa, I guess you could try.

 

[Steve Oehlenschlager]

WASTE of time and Money. Don't do it. Sure 1 in 40 times it might work. I have grown both for years. Alfalfa takes a ton of sunlight and grows so slow when little. You would end up with such a thin and spotty plot that why would you even bother? Who wants a thin alfalfa plot when its all said and done. Plant both as stand alone crops. They will do well that way.

 

[WTNUT]

WASTE of time and Money. Don't do it. Sure 1 in 40 times it might work. I have grown both for years. Alfalfa takes a ton of sunlight and grows so slow when little. You would end up with such a thin and spotty plot that why would you even bother? Who wants a thin alfalfa plot when its all said and done. Plant both as stand alone crops. They will do well that way.

I think this is a better way of saying what I wanted to say. If you have money to burn on an experiment, shoot for that 1 in 40 chance. But, at the end of the day that is truly what you are probably looking at is a 1 in 40 shot at it.


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[Peplin Creek]

Thanks guys, I appreciate all the comments. Good thing is I have all winter to think about it. It was crazy idea that popped into my head and I loved the pros and cons list that I got from everyone's response.