Inter Cropping

[S.T.Fanatic]

I have a plot that will be going into RR soybeans Mem. Day Weekend. It is flat for the most part but the South Eastern corner of it is fairly steep. I am planning on mixing 20ish # of oats with the Soybeans if for nothing else to help hold the tilled soil from any erosion that may take place on that slope if a heavy rain event would happen while the soil is vulnerable. I am going to try not to spray unless weeds and competition are an issue. I saw a corner of a field that my uncle had double cropped beans into oats/alfalfa accidentally that were growing great together.

This brings me to my question. Have any of you ever tried a bean/oat mix together in the spring?

 

[yoderjac]

If you are not using RR crops and spraying them with gly, mixing beans with other crops is no different than mixing cowpeas. They fill a similar niche. It works just fine. Keep in mind you won't get the pod yield as they are competing with resources with the other crops as well as any weeds. If you are not using the RR characteristic, you might consider forage beans as well. They are vegetatively more aggressive than ag beans.

By the way, I have not seen the term "double cropping" used that way. Generally, I've seen it used to grow the same crop twice in one growing season. For example, it is possible to double crop buckwheat in the south. You can plant it in the spring, let it mature, plant it again (or just use a volunteer crop) and get a second crop to mature by fall. What you are talking about is just a crop mix and it is done all the time for wildlife. The key is getting the right mix and amount of each crop in the mix.

Thanks,

jack

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

I will be using RR beans. That way if/when I feel to much competition I can spray and take out the oats and any weeds present. I want the pods for winter(our stress period)

I will be using the oats to hold soil.

This plot will also be covered in the fall with a cereal and tuber type plant. I want pods but the cover will help fill the loss of yield from inter cropped beans.

IF anyone has actually mixed the two of them I’d like to hear your actual results.

I am more than aware of the probable results.


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[yoderjac]

I will be using RR beans. That way if/when I feel to much competition I can spray and take out the oats and any weeds present. I want the pods for winter(our stress period)

I will be using the oats to hold soil.

This plot will also be covered in the fall with a cereal and tuber type plant. I want pods but the cover will help fill the loss of yield from inter cropped beans.

IF anyone has actually mixed the two of them I’d like to hear your actual results.

I am more than aware of the probable results.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That makes sense. I've done it, but not with just beans and oats with your objectives and rates. I'm far enough south of you with different deer densities that my results wouldn't be a good predictor for you. In my case, weeds and browse pressure kept the beans from getting established. Hopefully someone in your area has done something closer to what you plan to do.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[j-bird]

Are you interseeding the oats across the entire plot or just in this specific trouble spot?

I have not done what you are suggesting. I would however be considering a perennial that way I could avoid running this "risk" every year. I have a very coarse soil that can erode easily so I appreciate your issue, but sometimes you just have to know when to leave some things well enough alone. Many of my ag fields have grass waterways in them to prevent the erosion and some need to be expanded. Hopefully this trouble spot isn't a significant part of your plot...

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

Are you interseeding the oats across the entire plot or just in this specific trouble spot?

I have not done what you are suggesting. I would however be considering a perennial that way I could avoid running this "risk" every year. I have a very coarse soil that can erode easily so I appreciate your issue, but sometimes you just have to know when to leave some things well enough alone. Many of my ag fields have grass waterways in them to prevent the erosion and some need to be expanded. Hopefully this trouble spot isn't a significant part of your plot...

Yes, I was thinking of an oat soy mix across the entire plot.

I usually have it in a clover chicory plot until it gets weedy. This past summer i converted it to a TNM Brassica plot. I like to follow Brassica with soybeans. It is not a large plot (maybe 1/4 acre) and I would say of that 1/4 of it is "at risk" for erosion. I like to try to plant the earliest maturing variety of soybeans I can get my hands on because It gives a longer "secondary" growing season for fall covers. Thinking that would be a cereal with a red and a white clover and chicory. We generally have really good fall rains.

 

[j-bird]

I see no harm in mixing the oats... Like you mentioned you can kill them off if you need to. I think your plan is a good one....I'm just concerned about tilling a site where you could lose the topsoil. It depends on the risk/reward balance in my opinion. You know more about the site than I so, all I can offer up is try to minimize your risk of loosing that top soil as much as possible.

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

thank guys. I'm going to give it a shot this spring and see what happens.