Beans and rebounding from EHD

[Mattyq2402]

I’m in SE Ohio, got pummeled by EHd. Moving forward I do have a couple survivor bucks that are really solid, one could be real special if he gets thru the gun. There’s a couple good 2.5 and 3.5 as well. I have one or two mature doe and 5-7 fawns based on my pics covering the 130 acres. I’d estimate in the 75% being killed off. Good news is the bucks mentioned above made it.

With the deer density being grim, I was thinking about running beans in the 3-4 acre range accompanied by sorghum/milo in my main destination food. I’ve never run beans before. I’ll have clover chic to accompany.

With a low density do you think a bean planting would invite these bucks to summer and take advantage of my new tsi I’m providing? With 3-4 acres would it be a wash without fencing?

Is anyone seeing good results with sorghum and Milo? Corn is just out of budget.

 

[Catscratch]

Milo/sorghum is good for me but for only a short time. Maybe a couple of weeks from the time they decide to eat it to the time it's either gone or they're done with it.

From a food standpoint I'd go very heavy with beans and maybe mix some milo in with it. Either in 4ft rows or just a light broadcasting.

 

[Mattyq2402]

Milo/sorghum is good for me but for only a short time. Maybe a couple of weeks from the time they decide to eat it to the time it's either gone or they're done with it.

From a food standpoint I'd go very heavy with beans and maybe mix some milo in with it. Either in 4ft rows or just a light broadcasting.

That’s kind of what I was thinking. The large field has a county road in view, I’ll have it screened but would also like to have the structure within to block road view.

 

[swat1018]

If your deer numbers are low enough beans may survive. The good thing about summer annuals is that if they fail, you can always do brassicas, rye, etc later.

I have a 4 acre plot surrounded by deep timber, I've never got beans to survive in there.

 

[Telemark]

Sounds like a good idea. Just plan to have the beans as a summer plot, and any pods that form are a bonus. Plan to broadcast a fall plot into the beans after summer. This gives you the best of both worlds.

Road screen is a good idea. Then add a bunch of Milo to provide late season food as well as additional screening.

 

[Catscratch]

The deer did not like going into my milo plot this year. It was full of pumpkins and sunflowers. They ate the edges but stayed out. First time in a loooong time that I had sunflowers make it to bloom. I never thought milo could be used to protect other plants but it did. I think it's because it was thick and tall. Might be info you can use.

 

[marlin]

I did a side-by-side comparison of beans a couple years ago. Enlist AG and a couple different Eagle mixes. There was a clear winner by far. Eagle Managers mix mid-west. Good pod production and stayed green 6 weeks longer than Enlist AG beans. I was amazed how green this field was in Oct and what a draw it was. Here's a picture taken 9-15-24 with 5 ft exclusion cage.

 

[Mattyq2402]

Sounds like a good idea. Just plan to have the beans as a summer plot, and any pods that form are a bonus. Plan to broadcast a fall plot into the beans after summer. This gives you the best of both worlds.

Road screen is a good idea. Then add a bunch of Milo to provide late season food as well as additional screening.

Any go to bean type? I was thinking real world but would be open to suggestions having never planted them.

 

[Mattyq2402]

The deer did not like going into my milo plot this year. It was full of pumpkins and sunflowers. They ate the edges but stayed out. First time in a loooong time that I had sunflowers make it to bloom. I never thought milo could be used to protect other plants but it did. I think it's because it was thick and tall. Might be info you can use.
View attachment 86023View attachment 86024View attachment 86025View attachment 86026View attachment 86027View attachment 86028

What company did u order the Milo from? I like the idea of a less dense Milo planting with the beans, maybe they can vine up the Milo….

 

[Mattyq2402]

I did a side-by-side comparison of beans a couple years ago. Enlist AG and a couple different Eagle mixes. There was a clear winner by far. Eagle Managers mix mid-west. Good pod production and stayed green 6 weeks longer than Enlist AG beans. I was amazed how green this field was in Oct and what a draw it was. Here's a picture taken 9-15-24 with 5 ft exclusion cage.

View attachment 86031

I’d be at the farm in early June for a couple weeks, when planting do you see any benefit to a late start date versus a may planting? That’s crazy height!!! Do they retain the pods well or is everything browsed off. I was asking in a previous convo what brand to run as I assumed real world would be the go to, I’m interested in this now

 

[Mattyq2402]

I did a side-by-side comparison of beans a couple years ago. Enlist AG and a couple different Eagle mixes. There was a clear winner by far. Eagle Managers mix mid-west. Good pod production and stayed green 6 weeks longer than Enlist AG beans. I was amazed how green this field was in Oct and what a draw it was. Here's a picture taken 9-15-24 with 5 ft exclusion cage.

View attachment 86031

Did you drill?

 

[Telemark]

Any go to bean type? I was thinking real world but would be open to suggestions having never planted them.

No, I don't have enough experience to have a favorite. I do think a blend is better than a single type. Someone above mentioned Managers Mix. It's probably what I would try next if I can get ahold of it. I just buy from Merit because I can go there to pick it up.

 

[Catscratch]

What company did u order the Milo from? I like the idea of a less dense Milo planting with the beans, maybe they can vine up the Milo….

Any Ag seed should work. But there are lots of different varieties. Talk with a CO-OP or a dealer and should be able to come up something that fits your needs perfectly.

 

[marlin]

All varieties were planted on 5-24-24. Broadcasted at 1.5 bags per acre. Managers mix and enlist ag produced good pods. Here’s the pictures of all the fields.

Picture from 9-15-24. Enlist Ag yellow but the deer did come back in early December to eat the pods.

Eagle Manager’s Mix Midwest 9-15-24

Pods on Manager’s Mix 9-15-24.
I didn’t post a picture of the other variety tested because it didn’t produce pods.