How long would pods last into the winter on a 2 acre plot with high deer numbers? It’s not uncommon to see 10-12 deer in the current plot now which is LC Mix and Brassicas split up. Next year I’ll have 5 acres to plant and was thinking of doing 2 in RR Beans ( broadcasted, don’t have a drill) but have all equipment needed for plots. Can I still broadcast beans and then overseed with brassicas or do the beans needed to be planted with a drill in rows for it to work effectively? I don’t want to plant beans if the pods get wiped clean and the plot isn’t effective late into the season/beyond the season. I realize you need big plots for Beans or else they won’t work. I plan on using an electric fence when I plant them next year so they get established, but I want to provide food as late as I can for the deer. I too will have brassicas and the LC Mix next year with addition of 1/2 acre of perennial clover, alfalfa and chicory I planted in Sept. Any help would be great.
Experienced Bean planters:
- Thread starter BobinCt
- Start date
I usually leave around 2 acres of soybeans standing along with some other random plots and they generally last until early/mid December. There are lots of variables that determine how long the plots will last, so there is no way to know how long they will last at your place. I'd recommend planting 2 acres of beans just to see how they do. If they are getting pounded in the summer just disk them up and plant brassicas.
I simply broadcast the soybean seed and then lightly disk them up to cover them. They grow great. I've tried overseeding with brassicas in late summer, but that doesn't work well on my sandy soil.
I simply broadcast the soybean seed and then lightly disk them up to cover them. They grow great. I've tried overseeding with brassicas in late summer, but that doesn't work well on my sandy soil.
Smokegobbler
5 year old buck +
An area with high deer numbers can wipe out a couple of acres of pods fairly quick. I'd leave the fence up until that point when you want to provide feed. Disking can work good, but try to time with precip.
S.T.Fanatic
5 year old buck +
Plant the earliest maturing ag bean you can find and then over seed them with PTT in Early August. Over seed them again early September with rye, winter peas, and a good dose of urea. If your beans get hammered there will still be plenty of other offerings.
Tree Spud
5 year old buck +
I have planted both regular ag and forage beans in plot sizes of 4-6 acres. The deer will eat the tops down to above the pods and some of the pods can last into Nov.
I have not has any good success trying to broadcast seed (other than WR & clover) into standing beans. Not enough sunlight. I have always planted them with a drill. You can broadcast them as I have seen them germinate above soil, the problem is that birds, turkeys, etc will consume them.
With high deer #'s and only 2 acres i think they'll be gone very quickly.
I have not has any good success trying to broadcast seed (other than WR & clover) into standing beans. Not enough sunlight. I have always planted them with a drill. You can broadcast them as I have seen them germinate above soil, the problem is that birds, turkeys, etc will consume them.
With high deer #'s and only 2 acres i think they'll be gone very quickly.
S.T.Fanatic
5 year old buck +
To many times we try to get the most food to grow that we can in areas with an over abundance of deer when we should be shooting an over abundance of does. I say go for it. you wont know unless you try.
roymunson
5 year old buck +
This.
Or invest in e- fence until Mid august. By then they'll be up, and hopefully can outpace browse.
I want beans once my soil gets right, but I think I'll be investing in e fence when the time comes.
8 or so deer and 25 turkeys leveled my bean field here in Vermont in a little over one month. Last year with apples and no drought the beans lasted two plus months. I 3d fence my bean fields all summer and unleash them the week before the season. I use the tractor supply fiberglass poles with the yellow insulators and zereba fence wire. We ordered the parmark 12-volt solar fencers they seem to work very well. I never once had to charge a battery all summer. I plant the beans in spring usually around the first weekend of June. I leave it fenced all summer all I care about is the deer able to eat the pods during rifle season. One year I unfenced it around bow season so they could eat some green leaves and that also worked pretty well once the beans got past my knees.
ghilliehunter
5 year old buck +
The only way to be successful with smaller acreage is efence. Before I fenced, the deer would eat the plot to the ground before hunting season.
S.T.Fanatic
5 year old buck +
EXCELLENT!!!!!!
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S.T.Fanatic
5 year old buck +
I just counted 31 deer in there!!!
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S.T.Fanatic
5 year old buck +
I only have 1/2 acre in an area of 60/40 ish of ag to cover. Still plenty of pods. Deer still spending lots of time eating waste grains and alfalfa in the ag fields and with zero snow cleaning up the left over acorns.
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S.T.Fanatic
5 year old buck +
My bad, 37. I may be having a stiff cocktail at the moment.
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Booner21
5 year old buck +
My deer will leave mine alone if I can get them out of the ground a bit. I fence mine because they take them out if not. I am in the Midwest and they won’t see much use until the first part of December. 1.5 acres of good beans seem to last the deer about a month in the last season. I have a lot of browse also.
Late season there will be 15-30 deer a night in the plot.
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Late season there will be 15-30 deer a night in the plot.
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S.T.Fanatic
5 year old buck +
I plant mine a good 2-3 weeks after the ag beans go in. I’m guessing that helps reduce the pressure early on.
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Brassicas I believe will produce more tonnage. I know there was a calculation online that talked about brassica tonnage. Soybeans would be 140,000 seeds planted per acre, approximately a fifty pound bag times approximately 30 pods per plant plant with average of 3 beans per pod. The beans produce considerable tonnage. To be honest brassicas don't come close to attraction of the soybeans. You could always dust in brassicas in early August into your beans. My soybeans are a super attractant, I can't say a bad thing about them.
