Beans vs alfalfa

[Howboutthemdawgs]

I saw a handful of bucks Sunday in my wheat fields already putting on a decent amount of bone. It got me to thinking, I always see beans as the king of deer food. And I absolutely agree. The draw of beans is insane and it obviously is packed with nutrition. But I have felt for a while alfalfa is the overall best food you could have on your farm.
After the wheat comes off I’ll have beans going in. That will likely be late June at earliest. Additionally most fields I see around me don’t have beans planted yet or they haven’t started coming up yet if they have been. So for the last several weeks, and for the next couple weeks what’s happening…bucks are putting on inches without the help of the beans. You might get a month to a month and half on the backend of antler growth where the bean helps. This is where I believe beans fall short. Unless you have the time, money and equipment to put them in early, most commercially grown beans miss a large part of growing season where they would really be beneficial. And then in the fall when the pod is doing its thing providing carbs and fat, they beans are picked and gone. Alfalfa on the other hand is up and popping. It’s been coming out of dormancy for a while now and has gotten tall enough for first cut around here. In warmer falls like we’ve seen recently, alfalfa down here can be used until almost December. With a palatability, attractiveness and nutrition rivaling the bean, combined with its perennial lifespan, I think alfalfa is in fact the number 1 crop for deer. I’m in the process of working with my farmer to look into getting 11 acres into alfalfa next year. Hopefully it makes sense for him and it can be done.

 

[Hoytvectrix]

I saw a handful of bucks Sunday in my wheat fields already putting on a decent amount of bone. It got me to thinking, I always see beans as the king of deer food. And I absolutely agree. The draw of beans is insane and it obviously is packed with nutrition. But I have felt for a while alfalfa is the overall best food you could have on your farm.
After the wheat comes off I’ll have beans going in. That will likely be late June at earliest. Additionally most fields I see around me don’t have beans planted yet or they haven’t started coming up yet if they have been. So for the last several weeks, and for the next couple weeks what’s happening…bucks are putting on inches without the help of the beans. You might get a month to a month and half on the backend of antler growth where the bean helps. This is where I believe beans fall short. Unless you have the time, money and equipment to put them in early, most commercially grown beans miss a large part of growing season where they would really be beneficial. And then in the fall when the pod is doing its thing providing carbs and fat, they beans are picked and gone. Alfalfa on the other hand is up and popping. It’s been coming out of dormancy for a while now and has gotten tall enough for first cut around here. In warmer falls like we’ve seen recently, alfalfa down here can be used until almost December. With a palatability, attractiveness and nutrition rivaling the bean, combined with its perennial lifespan, I think alfalfa is in fact the number 1 crop for deer. I’m in the process of working with my farmer to look into getting 11 acres into alfalfa next year. Hopefully it makes sense for him and it can be done.

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I'm a huge fan of alfalfa. The first couple of years after we put in a plot is nearly always the best on the farm, even with beans around. In our neck of the woods there is zero alfalfa besides some wild stuff growing in the ditch.

It definitely seems like it needs to be treated a little differently than a clover perennial plot. Originally I was going to be planting a few acres of round-up alfalfa this spring but have decided to go back to a three-way mix with clover and chicory and non round-up ready alfalfa. I think that will still encourage deer use of the plots when alfalfa is less desirable and it might get another year or two out of the plot.

Our renter wasn't really all that interested with bailing the alfalfa acres, so then it presented a little more work for me to time some mowing/spraying events. Logistically, the mixture just makes more sense for us and the wildlife anyways.

 

[Howboutthemdawgs]

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I'm a huge fan of alfalfa. The first couple of years after we put in a plot is nearly always the best on the farm, even with beans around. In our neck of the woods there is zero alfalfa besides some wild stuff growing in the ditch.

It definitely seems like it needs to be treated a little differently than a clover perennial plot. Originally I was going to be planting a few acres of round-up alfalfa this spring but have decided to go back to a three-way mix with clover and chicory and non round-up ready alfalfa. I think that will still encourage deer use of the plots when alfalfa is less desirable and it might get another year or two out of the plot.

Our renter wasn't really all that interested with bailing the alfalfa acres, so then it presented a little more work for me to time some mowing/spraying events. Logistically, the mixture just makes more sense for us and the wildlife anyways.

Yeah I should have mentioned the real downside of alfalfa is the cost and maintenance. Can definitely be a too stiff a barrier for most to justify if they cannot get a farmer to want it.

 

[Westwind]

For me in ag country, I am skeptical of bean plantings and my biggest single plot is 3 acres so it just wouldn’t be near big enough.

I might be really wrong but I think to myself, “if I plant beans, how would it be different than the beans that farmers plant on all four sides of me?” Even if I leave them standing after the farmers cut theirs, 3 acres of beans with pods will go in about 5 days once the deer decide its time.

Even if I had the means to do 10 acre fields I’m not sure that is what I would do.

 

[BenA]

My farmer said he was going to plant alfalfa for me on my one acre plot, but the rain seems like it will never end. He put the corn back on my 4-5 acre destination field above my plot on April 19. He picks a little at a time, so usually he's picking the last of it right after winter. I do feel like alfalfa/clover/chicory would be a good combo for me in my plot on the way to the corn.

 

[Westwind]

When I see the corn/cover crop inter seeding pictures on the cover crop sites I admit that I involuntarily drool just a little..

 

[Catscratch]

My opinion for antler growth;

Natives are by far the best nutritional plane. Plots should be in effort to fill gaps in your natives (ie - summer dormancy and loss of crude protein in your natives).

Your comparison of beans to alfalfa is spot on.

If ag is planting acres of beans do you really need to also? Deer will have access to that nutrition.

It takes a lot more acres to have beans than alfalfa.

 

[BenA]

My opinion for antler growth;

Natives are by far the best nutritional plane. Plots should be in effort to fill gaps in your natives (ie - summer dormancy and loss of crude protein in your natives).

Your comparison of beans to alfalfa is spot on.

If ag is planting acres of beans do you really need to also? Deer will have access to that nutrition.

It takes a lot more acres to have beans than alfalfa.

I agree with this completely. Most of my time is spent on managing the native trees/plants. I have a lot more acreage of that than food plots, and the deer spend more time in those areas than my planted food. Rosettes of forbs are browsed on winter through early spring providing lots of nutritious food if I can let them do their thing. And, woody browse of set back trees provides it as well. I do like having food plots though for the hunting time attraction and the quantity of quality forage it provides in such a small area.

 

[westonwhitetail]

There is some advantage to being able to overseed beans with winter rye or brassicas that can make a plot almost a full year food source and probably a better late season and winter food source. It’s added work to plant multiple times per year but that may be offset by the alfalfa maintenance?


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[Turkey Creek]

Beans shine in AG country IMO if you plant them late so they stay green well after the other beans have matured (dependent on your 1st frost date). I don't plant beans for the pod production, mostly just a high attraction kill plot for archery season. Alfalfa works nicely if you have a good handle on your deer numbers and can anticipate how many mouths it takes to keep it trimmed down, plant just enough so the deer "mow" it for you. Having to mow alfalfa to keep it young and tender is a tedious chore.

 

[buckdeer1]

I have tried to keep an alfalfa-clover-chicory plot around when weather permits planting as I plant mine late winter.Mine is only about 1/2 an acre but it s thick and tall.There are at least 10 deer in it every night. I also plant beans and then broadcast WW into it. I plant enlist beans from Real World and they seem to be more shatter resistant. This year may be alittle different as we are planting early milo and then a cover crop of radishes and WW in the ag fields around these plots which will be about 100 acres so don't think I will run out of food.

 

[Mortenson]

KY has been wet and is way behind on planting progress. On a normal year, I'd have to think you'd have a lot more beans in your neighborhood up and growing at least a month if not longer ago. That's not to detract from the rest of the conversation or the benefits of alfalfa, but just an observation.

 

[gjs4]

My wNY take on the crops, not necessarily the antler outcome (which also seems to follow the weather dependent theme).

A random one for us lifelong antler addicts; Anyone remember the QDMA article on the correlation between Alfalfa regions and record book entries ?

Beans are an amazing draw but I personally havent seen bigger antlers in a given crop year. Winter and Sprig stresses dictate far more here. One of the areas I lack detail here is how the crop relates to both others having the same planting in the area and weather during that crop season.

I have seen 3 cuttings and 6 cuttings on alfalfa fields. I have see a hundredish deer in a 100ac alfalfa field and less than 10 despite the same annual timing.

Beans are good every year, even when brown if wet and rock in the brutal cold. I have also seen beans get picked in October or early Nov. Deer tend to browse moving in beans here...never really sitting still. I dont think does like their small fawns in beans when theyre taller. Beans seem to get alot more farmer presence (and milangromite application) for us here and tend to have more insects around.

Alfalfa seems best the second or third year and when growing back just post cut. If its cold and rainy it seems the draw drops and those smoking hot Sept fields are devoid of critters come typical Nov and winter weather. I have also seen clover outdraw alfalfa. Alfalfa is harder for plotters to happily grow and maintain...and costs way more (esp RR varieties).

Just the ramblings of this idiot from my mental notes. In areas where winter severity is a killer.....it seems to dwarf all other variables in the inevitable bad years.