Forage soybean plantings

[Peplin Creek]

When do you all plant your forage beans? Same time? wait a month after farmers? I am thinking of a late planting to hopefully still have green beans when all the ag fields yellow.

 

[yoderjac]

Pep,

Forage beans are indeterminate. The planting date does not affect maturity. Farmers plant ag beans with a maturity group appropriate for the area so the maximize pod production. Regardless of planting time, forage beans will stay green longer than the beans farmers plant.

For me, planting time is critical. Soybeans want to see at least 65 degree soil temp. It the soil stays damp and cool after planting beans will not do well. Soil temp and rainfall tend to govern the earliest planting date for me. The latest date for me is governed by browse pressure. When does are pregnant and getting ready to drop fawns, they tend to stay in heavy cover and can become somewhat territorial. A few days after they drop the fawns, they hit the beans hard and then start bringing their fawns to the beans. If this occurs before the beans are established they can either kill the beans or keep them naked and prevent them from forming a canopy.

If I get the timing right, forage beans I plant will canopy and provide great summer food. In my location the don't start to yellow until mid to late Oct.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[ncnat]

My forage beans normally stay green and growing till frost.

 

[SwampCat]

As the others have said - forage beans will keep their leaves longer than most ag beans. But, another thing to consider is when the farmers plant - I like to plant just after them so their beans take some of the pressure off my beans. Unfortunately, that didnt happen this year. My farming neighbor has not planted yet. I own a piece of property next to public land our G&F decided to close hog season about four or five years ago. The top pic is my bean field on the property adjacent to the hog refuge and the bottom pic is a bean field on my home property where hogs are hunted year round on the adjacent public property - planted same day and same planting rate.

 

[Peplin Creek]

Jack, SwampCat, Ncnat. Thanks for your input. This is gonna be a smaller plot so I think the advice of waiting until farmers plant to take pressure off and understanding the doe/fawn needs might be critical to making this work. thank you. If all else fails and they wipe it out i’ll probably just overseed with rye and brassicas. Last year I planted the plot in the spring with beans and buckwheat. Using the buckwheat to hide it. It actually worked out ok. Ok, meaning bean plants were maybe a foot tall still had leaf matter. But still turned it over and planted a turnip, radish, Winfred mix for the fall. I am not expecting bean pods or anything like that given the size. Just hoping that when the ag fields lose their draw for a couple of weeks I can capitalize and maybe get a crack at nice buck before rut. I’ll have a new plot that butts up to this one in the brassica mix listed above. If done right, those brassicas should begin to smell right around the time the ag bean fields yellow. In my area, that’s when they start to hit my brassicas. I’m gonna hope for deer to smell the brassicas and stumble into the beans if they haven’t already.

 

[yoderjac]

Jack, SwampCat, Ncnat. Thanks for your input. This is gonna be a smaller plot so I think the advice of waiting until farmers plant to take pressure off and understanding the doe/fawn needs might be critical to making this work. thank you. If all else fails and they wipe it out i’ll probably just overseed with rye and brassicas. Last year I planted the plot in the spring with beans and buckwheat. Using the buckwheat to hide it. It actually worked out ok. Ok, meaning bean plants were maybe a foot tall still had leaf matter. But still turned it over and planted a turnip, radish, Winfred mix for the fall. I am not expecting bean pods or anything like that given the size. Just hoping that when the ag fields lose their draw for a couple of weeks I can capitalize and maybe get a crack at nice buck before rut. I’ll have a new plot that butts up to this one in the brassica mix listed above. If done right, those brassicas should begin to smell right around the time the ag bean fields yellow. In my area, that’s when they start to hit my brassicas. I’m gonna hope for deer to smell the brassicas and stumble into the beans if they haven’t already.

Keep in mind that doe/fawn use is more critical in a situation like mine. I have no ag other than pasture within miles. My beans are the only game in town. If I had nearby farming and was planting a small plot, I would do what others have said and wait for farmers to keep the browse pressure down. In my case, timing with respect to doe/fawn use is all I have at my disposal.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[JFK52]

I plant Eagle Northern managers mix forage soybeans. I try to plant them as early as possible. Late May was the planting date last year. I will be about the same this year. It was about a week or two after my ag beans had been planted. Soil temperature is very important. I like to plant when there is rain in the forecast within a few days of planting also.
I plant them for two reasons. First to keep the browsing pressure off my fields of ag beans. This allows the ag beans to produce more bean pods. This is an over winter food source for deer on my land. Next, to give the deer a great food source until the Eagle beans die after the first hard frost. My Eagle beans stayed green that entire time.
I rent out a 12 acre field in which a local farmer friend grows alfalfa. This really gives the deer a great early to late season food supply. He took three cutting off it last season. The deer especially love the field when the alfalfa is young and growing after a cutting.

 

[Boll Weevil]

FINALLY got some sustained dry weather to allow planting around here so we're in high gear. This is all bottom ground that was flooded from all the rains and it's just now dry enough to plant. Sprayed 12 days ago and will start drilling at o'dark thirty tomorrow.

This is in ag country so there's quite literally, tons of food popping out of the ground daily. My biggest beanfield (for the deer) is 14 acres way back in the timber so it's big enough they can't keep up with it whether I plant early or late. Plots smaller than about 2 acres back there would be decimated...not even worth planting.

 

[hesseu]

We have 8.5 acres of forage beans going in June 8th (at least that is scheduled now :) ). We will then overseed these in september with a green mix.