Eagle Beans, Real World, vs other forage soybeans ... Thoughts? Experience?

[yoderjac]

Are you mixing the Eagle & Ag so the the taller eagle gets browsed first or each in separate plots?

Spud,

Mixing them did not work well for me. If the beans hit the tipping point and canopy it doesn't matter, deer can't keep up with them and the Eagle beans just overwhelm the ag beans. If you don't hit the tipping point, the deer kill the ag beans and the eagle beans survive but are naked all summer.

In general, deer browse fields from the outside in (from the side closest to cover). One strategy I've seen guys use that works is to plant ag beans in the center of the field and Eagle beans on the perimeter. If you get the relative ratio right, deer will hit the Eagle beans first (not cause they are taller but because they are closer to cover), and the ag beans will become established so they can withstand browsing. I have not done this myself, but I have mixed them in the seed bin and ended up with no ag beans.

My purpose was a little different. Eagle beans stay green to late for me to broadcast a cover crop into them. I ended up having to actually bushhog lanes through the beans where I broadcast a cover crop. I thought that if I planted ag beans mixed with Eagle beans the ag beans would turn yellow early and provide enough sun for me to broadcast a cover crop. No beans in the field yellowed early. It was because the Eagle beans simply outcompeted the ag beans.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[JFK52]

I am planting at the suggested rate of 140K seeds per acre. Last year the ag beans were no till planted in May and the Eagle beans were belly seeded and then had a spike tooth drag and a roller run over them in mid June. I planted beans in separate plots last year. This year I am going to have the Eagle beans no till planted on the outside edges of the large ag bean fields. I did not have the Eagle seed in time to no till plant on May 12 last year. The Eagle northern managers mix will be there for no till planting this season. I did try over seeding the Eagle beans with winter rye but they had pretty well canopied by the time of that experiment. It was not very successful, but if I plant Eagles early this season perhaps I can over seed them. I do my own Roundup spraying for the first go round and then hire out the local Coop to come in with their 60 foot boom truck to do the second spraying. Smaller plots that the Coop truck can not navigate are done both times by myself.
My ag beans had one of their best seasons ever as far as pod production.

 

[swat1018]

Eagles and Real World are apples and oranges. I've planted both. Eagles are a forage bean, Real World are ag bean varieties selected for shatter resistance. I use to think that was not that important, but this year, for the first time, I had a plot of regular ag beans shatter. There wasn't a pod that held beans into Dec. I never have experienced that before.

I have never had great success with the Eagles. It isn't just their fault, every time I've tried them was a severe drought. But, at the price of them, I got tired of trying them. I can get Ag beans for free or close.

 

[Tree Spud]

I like the concept of using the Eagle beans on the outer perimeter. I am also considering a 30' strip of clover on the outer perimeter before the eagle beans.

 

[Tree Spud]

Eagles and Real World are apples and oranges. I've planted both. Eagles are a forage bean, Real World are ag bean varieties selected for shatter resistance. I use to think that was not that important, but this year, for the first time, I had a plot of regular ag beans shatter. There wasn't a pod that held beans into Dec. I never have experienced that before.

I have never had great success with the Eagles. It isn't just their fault, every time I've tried them was a severe drought. But, at the price of them, I got tired of trying them. I can get Ag beans for free or close.

Swat ... what do you look for when buying shatter resistant Ag beans

 

[swat1018]

Swat ... what do you look for when buying shatter resistant Ag beans

To be honest, I've never paid attention to the trait before. I plant leftover beans from farmer friends normally, or get seed from the NWTF. I guess I've always been fortunate with the varieties I've gotten. I think in general the longer maturity beans are less likely to shatter, but they are also going to be worse for top seeding brassica into, if you do that. If you are buying seed from a dealer, they should be able to tell you how a seed rates for shatter resistance.