Soybeans

[Southern Hunter]

I'm Ms. and planting and elec fencing 5 acres of soybeans this summer. We've planted beans for several years and have good stand as long as we fence them. We've always planted a forage bean and once the plants are 2-3 feet tall we open the fence to let them eat. We are considering leaving the fence up to produce pods but really enjoy letting them in to forage the leaves which the devour in a few short weeks. There's a lot of good protien during a critical growth period. I have a few smaller clover plots totaling 2-1/2-3acres. What do you guys do?

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

Nothing wrong with letting them eat them down then transitioning into a fall planting of cereals.

 

[Hoytvectrix]

Last year was our first year with E-fencing. We did it on two, 1-acre plots. We planted a blend of multiple maturity group Eagle Seed forage soybeans. We left our fence up until the last group began to flower, which for us was around August 29 with a May 1st planting date in Northern Missouri.

I think we removed the fencing too late. The beans got about 5 feet tall and had a ton of beans on them, but all of the means we're under developed, regardless of the maturity group. Going forward, we will continue to use the E-fencing, but will switch to field beans. Our best hunting on our property is always rut and post rut activity. We want to ensure we have enough standing beans going into the middle-end of November and later.

In hindsight, removing the fencing so late is probably our only mistake. At the stage we removed it, the plants were shifting from a vegetative stage to the reproductive stage, which may have changed the palatability of the leaves. I'd be curious to read what others have found in a similar scenario. We might play around with forage beans some more depending on what the farmers around us do for their rotation.

 

[ruskbucks]

I wouldn't cut them of of all that high protein leaves. I think cutting them off of all that food only to have pods latter is a bad idea. I was happy to actually have my beans to produce pods one year only to see the pods Wiped out in two weeks before gun season.

 

[ruskbucks]

Last year was our first year with E-fencing. We did it on two, 1-acre plots. We planted a blend of multiple maturity group Eagle Seed forage soybeans. We left our fence up until the last group began to flower, which for us was around August 29 with a May 1st planting date in Northern Missouri.

I think we removed the fencing too late. The beans got about 5 feet tall and had a ton of beans on them, but all of the means we're under developed, regardless of the maturity group. Going forward, we will continue to use the E-fencing, but will switch to field beans. Our best hunting on our property is always rut and post rut activity. We want to ensure we have enough standing beans going into the middle-end of November and later.

In hindsight, removing the fencing so late is probably our only mistake. At the stage we removed it, the plants were shifting from a vegetative stage to the reproductive stage, which may have changed the palatability of the leaves. I'd be curious to read what others have found in a similar scenario. We might play around with forage beans some more depending on what the farmers around us do for their rotation.

I usually plant a acre of Eagles next to 1 1/2 acre of ag beans. The deer seem to prefer the Eagles and don't hit the ag beans nearly as much. The Eagles grow so fast that they can handle the browsing so much better. I wonder if it is because they like the fresh new growth rather than switching to the more mature growth on the ag beans.

 

[swat1018]

If I were to fence beans, I'd fence Ag beans, not Eagle's. If I were to fence Eagle's it would only be for a few weeks to aid in establishment, once they get going they should be able to stay ahead of the deer, that's the point of a forage bean. If you are going to leave a fence up and exclude the deer from the green leaves, plant Ag beans so you have a bumper crop of winter grain.

 

[Hoytvectrix]

I usually plant a acre of Eagles next to 1 1/2 acre of ag beans. The deer seem to prefer the Eagles and don't hit the ag beans nearly as much. The Eagles grow so fast that they can handle the browsing so much better. I wonder if it is because they like the fresh new growth rather than switching to the more mature growth on the ag beans.

I would think your question is probably fairly accurate. Compared to past years where we have had forage beans on the farm at the same time as field beans, we have noticed deer move in waves as the plants are changing their growth stages. I am sure that for most of the summer, the deer preferred the forage beans, but at some point, the deer almost all exclusively fed on the leaves of the field beans.