Bean failure - curious your take

[Wild Thing]

I have a pretty high deer density here so I plant at 210,000 seeds per acre on 7.5" rows. Last time I calibrated it came out to 86.6#/acre. Seed this year was similar sized so I didn't bother calibrating. I always inoculate my bean seed but from what I understand, inoculation has zero to do with germination - it just places the bacteria into the soil so the roots can nodulate and produce N. That is why they say if beans have been planted in the same field recently, it isn't necessary to inoculate.

Those beans that are E-Fenced canopy quickly and grow great. Those not fenced....not so great - but only because of the browse pressure. I have never had germination issues. This was my 4th year of no-till drilling my beans. You can see the drill in my avatar - a Land Pride 606-NT. Love it.

Best of luck next year Dukslayr. Sounds like you planted a similar cover crop to what I planted here as well - wheat, rye, radish, buckwheat, brassica and clover. I will probably skip the buckwheat next year as it has been too cold at night for it to grow much and is already turning yellow.

BTW - I have never planted Real World beans but I did plant Eagle Forage Beans one year as well as several other plots of regular Ag beans which I purchase through the Conservation Seed Program. I paid $130/bag (delivered) for the Eagle seed and it didn't do any better than the year old cheap stuff so that was a one and done proposition. I have purchased seed from NWTF for $15-$30/bag in the past. This year I bought my RR soybean seed through QDMA for $9/bag.

 

[Dukslayr]

I have a pretty high deer density here so I plant at 210,000 seeds per acre on 7.5" rows. Last time I calibrated it came out to 86.6#/acre. Seed this year was similar sized so I didn't bother calibrating. I always inoculate my bean seed but from what I understand, inoculation has zero to do with germination - it just places the bacteria into the soil so the roots can nodulate and produce N. That is why they say if beans have been planted in the same field recently, it isn't necessary to inoculate.

Those beans that are E-Fenced canopy quickly and grow great. Those not fenced....not so great - but only because of the browse pressure. I have never had germination issues. This was my 4th year of no-till drilling my beans. You can see the drill in my avatar - a Land Pride 606-NT. Love it.

Best of luck next year Dukslayr. Sounds like you planted a similar cover crop to what I planted here as well - wheat, rye, radish, buckwheat, brassica and clover. I will probably skip the buckwheat next year as it has been too cold at night for it to grow much and is already turning yellow.

BTW - I have never planted Real World beans but I did plant Eagle Forage Beans one year as well as several other plots of regular Ag beans which I purchase through the Conservation Seed Program. I paid $130/bag (delivered) for the Eagle seed and it didn't do any better than the year old cheap stuff so that was a one and done proposition. I have purchased seed from NWTF for $15-$30/bag in the past. This year I bought my RR soybean seed through QDMA for $9/bag.

My goal next year is to eke it at easy as possible on the guy doing the planting...he can just plant whatever it is that he’s already planting so no need to change seeds or setting, just drop the planter and go. I’m curious what he pays for seed but not doubt it’ll be much less than Eagle or RW. I think I gave 89.99 a bag for the Eagle and 69.99 a bag for the RW from my local dealer. I’ll be nice paying much less next year!

I’ll take some pictures of the cover crop and beans next time I’m able. Everything I planted this year was messed up due to the weather but the cover crop was perfect. Drilled on a Saturday, rained Sunday and three more showers the following week. Now a little sunshine and heat. I’m assuming it should be looking good in a couple weeks.

 

[Mortenson]

That sounds like a good plan. And yes I think going perpendicular or on an angle to the original rows (making diamonds) would do nothing but help. You guys will need to discuss adjusting pop if it gets planted twice like that. I was down at our place doing a few jobs this afternoon and got another look at the likely once in a lifetime cover crop beans. At noon on July 8th it was just a dumb idea, and by 9 pm that night they were in the ground swelling. Got lucky I guess with the weather from there on out, stars aligned. The pods are filling but the top pods are still flat. I think they're done flowering and making vegetation. Forecast looks decent for them to have a chance of finishing out. Here's pics of a 15 acre field surrounded by woods, probably enough beans to feed China for a day. On one heavily browsed edge the brassicas are filling in well.

 

[Dukslayr]

That sounds like a good plan. And yes I think going perpendicular or on an angle to the original rows (making diamonds) would do nothing but help. You guys will need to discuss adjusting pop if it gets planted twice like that. I was down at our place doing a few jobs this afternoon and got another look at the likely once in a lifetime cover crop beans. At noon on July 8th it was just a dumb idea, and by 9 pm that night they were in the ground swelling. Got lucky I guess with the weather from there on out, stars aligned. The pods are filling but the top pods are still flat. I think they're done flowering and making vegetation. Forecast looks decent for them to have a chance of finishing out. Here's pics of a 15 acre field surrounded by woods, probably enough beans to feed China for a day. On one heavily browsed edge the brassicas are filling in well.

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That’s a hell of a good looking field!

 

[Smokegobbler]

That sounds like a good plan. And yes I think going perpendicular or on an angle to the original rows (making diamonds) would do nothing but help. You guys will need to discuss adjusting pop if it gets planted twice like that. I was down at our place doing a few jobs this afternoon and got another look at the likely once in a lifetime cover crop beans. At noon on July 8th it was just a dumb idea, and by 9 pm that night they were in the ground swelling. Got lucky I guess with the weather from there on out, stars aligned. The pods are filling but the top pods are still flat. I think they're done flowering and making vegetation. Forecast looks decent for them to have a chance of finishing out. Here's pics of a 15 acre field surrounded by woods, probably enough beans to feed China for a day. On one heavily browsed edge the brassicas are filling in well.

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You plan to harvest any, or is all 15 acres for deer? That'll be some hotspot come December.

 

[Mortenson]

Not allowed to harvest any of it for grain. The farm programs had so many in-season changes this year, and many cover crops can and will be hayed, made to silage, grazed etc. This entire field will stand for the wildlife, as will another 30 acre field across the trees that is half beans and half oats and brassicas. As I said in the prior post, it really is a once in a lifetime experience, so we're going to just have fun with it. We don't make the rules, but do follow them.

 

[LEWI B]

Did you drill the brassica or broadcast.
Looks very good. Put corn in a 5-acre plot this year and it was poor with the weather. Rather thin and the nutsedge and horsenettle is thigh deep. That mix would allow better herbicides for my weeds.

 

[Mortenson]

I think my cover crop beans might be a failure come morning too! They're mostly still all green, maybe 2% yellowing. Forecast says we can spend some time in the upper 20's between 2am-9am. Hopefully it doesn't dip that cold, and hopefully a breeze exists to keep a huge frost from setting in. Even if they get killed, there'll be some kind of shrively beans leftover to feed on I'd imagine.

 

[Dukslayr]

I’m in a similar boat in north Missouri. I’m headed to my farm to hunt for the first time they year I’ll post an update on how the beans and my cover crop turned out. As I haven’t checked on things in 3+ weeks.

 

[Dukslayr]

Well I learned that a NT still may not be the ideal thing to plant clover. The rye and radishes are coming up okay (although I think I’m low in N) but the clover is nearly non existent so I’m guessing much of it get pushed in more than 1/4” deep. The mix included Frosty Berseem and Crimson. I thought it would blowing up with the rain we’ve had post planting but not so much. The deer are still crushing the Eagle and RW beans though, even though none of them made it more than 8-12” tall. Live and learn for next year. Curious to see how the two applications of hog crap affect things for next year. Going to knife in manure in early December (weather non withstanding) and again in the spring ahead of corn and beans going in.

 

[swat1018]

Well I learned that a NT still may not be the ideal thing to plant clover. The rye and radishes are coming up okay (although I think I’m low in N) but the clover is nearly non existent so I’m guessing much of it get pushed in more than 1/4” deep. The mix included Frosty Berseem and Crimson. I thought it would blowing up with the rain we’ve had post planting but not so much. The deer are still crushing the Eagle and RW beans though, even though none of them made it more than 8-12” tall. Live and learn for next year. Curious to see how the two applications of hog crap affect things for next year. Going to knife in manure in early December (weather non withstanding) and again in the spring ahead of corn and beans going in.

Clover in the small box?

 

[Dukslayr]

Clover in the small box?

Yes, rye was in the larger box and the clover/radish mix in the small box. It was a Hay Buster NT drill but probably in needs of repairs like the rest of the NRCSs equipment. There were bearings clearly out. Their general maintenance on equipment clearly sucks and people treat the rental drills like garbage. I had to vacuum out 20 pounds of rotting, molding, nasty beans out of the large box and cups before we could even get close to getting started.

 

[FarmerDan]

You may be right about the drill and clover. Maybe. Clover seed is a funny creation. I scrolled back up - quickly. All of this was planted around the middle of September, or, that's when you told the story. Its still only the middle of October. Under the best conditions and on average, clover will germinate in 21 - 30 days. Now, I know someone will say theirs did faster than that! Yes, well, it happens - and it happens the other way, too. Keep the ship steady. There might be more good to come~! Clover is a hard seed. In processing "as seed-for-sale," the coat is scarified or cracked to get the darn stuff to grow on our terms. If we didn't do that, it might lay in the soil for years. Still have the seed tags? Germination percentage and percent hard seed? It might help understand the situation.

 

[SD51555]

You may be right about the drill and clover. Maybe. Clover seed is a funny creation. I scrolled back up - quickly. All of this was planted around the middle of September, or, that's when you told the story. Its still only the middle of October. Under the best conditions and on average, clover will germinate in 21 - 30 days. Now, I know someone will say theirs did faster than that! Yes, well, it happens - and it happens the other way, too. Keep the ship steady. There might be more good to come~! Clover is a hard seed. In processing "as seed-for-sale," the coat is scarified or cracked to get the darn stuff to grow on our terms. If we didn't do that, it might lay in the soil for years. Still have the seed tags? Germination percentage and percent hard seed? It might help understand the situation.

I carved my cabin lawn out of a square of pasture grass that had sat there for 10+ years as just grass. All I did was mow and mow until it grew shorter and turned green like a lawn. One year later, it's 50% clovers (plural) and I never planted a one.

 

[Dukslayr]

You may be right about the drill and clover. Maybe. Clover seed is a funny creation. I scrolled back up - quickly. All of this was planted around the middle of September, or, that's when you told the story. Its still only the middle of October. Under the best conditions and on average, clover will germinate in 21 - 30 days. Now, I know someone will say theirs did faster than that! Yes, well, it happens - and it happens the other way, too. Keep the ship steady. There might be more good to come~! Clover is a hard seed. In processing "as seed-for-sale," the coat is scarified or cracked to get the darn stuff to grow on our terms. If we didn't do that, it might lay in the soil for years. Still have the seed tags? Germination percentage and percent hard seed? It might help understand the situation.

Good points Dan and I had forgotten that about clover. I have also never messed with Crimson or Frosty Berseem so not sure what to expect. I do still have the seed tags (I think) and will snap a picture when I get back up to the farm. Everything was planted the week after Labor Day weekend. I think the weekend of the 7th of September but it could have been the weekend of the 14th too, in which case yesterday would have been 30 days under what I would consider ideal grueling conditions.

 

[brokenlittleman]

Realworld beans are pre-inoculated which is why you might have had better success with them. I have planted both and don't have good feel for how they compare as I battle pressure and haven't fenced both to see. I will this year for sure. I will also never not put a cage in a plot ever again. There simply no way to know how much browse pressure and weather affects the results without them. I did one on a plot planted 3 times and the time I put up a cage even without rain for the entire month of Sept what was in the cage was 3-4 times taller than everything else. I initially thought there was no where near enough pressure to have it mowed as evenly as it did but sure enough they were destroying the plot.

 

[Mortenson]

Well my beans did indeed make it. They fought off quite a few frosts that didn't penetrate the canopy deeply or kill the plant. Trying to get dad on a nice buck, and it's just too many acres to try and gameplan around. So yesterday it brought a tear to my eye while I eliminated a whole bunch of beans. Left around 10 acres in 4 different spots. I think that's still too many to be most helpful for his hunts, but I want to consider winter animals as well. There's actually still quite a bit of high quality forage where the disc-ripper ran. It's been fun so far.

 

[Smokegobbler]

Those remaining 10 acres will be a deer magnet as December progresses. If you have a late muzzleloader season, that'll be the place. Keep an eye for poachers if you have road frontage.

 

[Mortenson]

Thanks Smokegobbler. A few of the acres would be slightly visible from the road, but for the most part not. There are quite a few homes around there and the road is more traveled than before they got built in the past 15 years. Knock on wood, shouldn't be a problem. There's actually a farmer just up the road with 300-400 acres, maybe more, of beans still standing, and I honestly doubt he finds any kind of a window now to get them. The stars would have to align. So the drawing power will be there and not here, most likely. I know of 2 shooters that have their core area around our farm this year, so I think those 2 are the bucks in play. 2nd shotgun weekend starts next Thur. Since we're a cwd county we'll have 2 more shotgun weekends, end of Dec and mid Jan. Should be an opportunity but doesn't always pan out! Not to sound grim but my dad will be 73 and I'm really hoping he gets a good 1. He already made mention last weekend that next year he probably needs his blinds to be closer to the truck. On that token, when I arrived to load up his doe with the ranger, he already had her dressed and dragged to the fence. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!