Iron clay peas vs soybeans
- Thread starter ruskbucks
- Start date
I planted cowpeas a few times here in Ct. Easy to grow and deer love them. What size plot you doing and what’s your deer pop like? I would recommend at least an acre in size for peas. I did two acres and it held up to good deer pressure but I also had clover beside it. I never planted Beans.
Can't comment on deer preference, but Iron & Clay is my favorite cowpea for eating.
Grew I&C, Dimpled Brown Crowder, Black Cow, Piggott Family Heirloom, Franklin Red, Kentucky Red, and Pinkeye Purplehull cowpeas in the garden this year.
Piggott was the most productive. of the bunch - and earliest to bear.
Deer really didn't seem to hit the cowpeas until right at the end of the growing season - and I kept them picked pretty hard ahead of the hooved rats, but they hammered Roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa, aka Jamaican Sorrel) starting about as soon as it started blooming, and hit the sweet potatoes pretty hard all season long.
Grew I&C, Dimpled Brown Crowder, Black Cow, Piggott Family Heirloom, Franklin Red, Kentucky Red, and Pinkeye Purplehull cowpeas in the garden this year.
Piggott was the most productive. of the bunch - and earliest to bear.
Deer really didn't seem to hit the cowpeas until right at the end of the growing season - and I kept them picked pretty hard ahead of the hooved rats, but they hammered Roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa, aka Jamaican Sorrel) starting about as soon as it started blooming, and hit the sweet potatoes pretty hard all season long.
bigboreblr
5 year old buck +
I've heard way too many bad experience with soybeans. Anyone with any soybean luck is growing several acres, like 5+. Deer just abuse them too much to grow decently in a small plot.
I saw tin his article, they recommend a trellising companion, like sunflowers or sorghum. The time I grew hairy vetch, I grew it with wheat. It definitely helped get it off the ground better.
Added bonus to cowpeas, they add tons of biomass and nitrogen.
I've toyed around with the idea of trying it for a few years. I may have to rethink what I do at home. LAst year we got hit with EHD, so the deer numbers are low. HAving little to no visits in my clover plot this fall. Might have to sweeten the deal a little more to get them out of the woodwork.
I saw tin his article, they recommend a trellising companion, like sunflowers or sorghum. The time I grew hairy vetch, I grew it with wheat. It definitely helped get it off the ground better.
Added bonus to cowpeas, they add tons of biomass and nitrogen.
I've toyed around with the idea of trying it for a few years. I may have to rethink what I do at home. LAst year we got hit with EHD, so the deer numbers are low. HAving little to no visits in my clover plot this fall. Might have to sweeten the deal a little more to get them out of the woodwork.
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Diesel5610
5 year old buck +
We have very high deer numbers here. Eagle soybeans in a 2 acre plot do fine for summer browse but you aren’t getting any beans for winter unless you use their managers mix which has some regular beans mixed in. You have beans but it isn’t a ton. We have planted them for summer browse for about a decade in different plots that size and they do fine. Any other type of bean we have tried ends up with a field full of ovrbrowsed stalks.
Eagles are the only one that will stand up to the browse pressure in a smaller plot. I don’t think anything smaller than 2 acres is worth the time or effort even with them. We have not had cowpeas other than as part of a mix. Curious to hear if anyone has any experience with them in a high browse situation.
Eagles are the only one that will stand up to the browse pressure in a smaller plot. I don’t think anything smaller than 2 acres is worth the time or effort even with them. We have not had cowpeas other than as part of a mix. Curious to hear if anyone has any experience with them in a high browse situation.
50 years ago, as a teenager growing a 'truck patch' of cowpeas and other stuff to sell at the local curbmarket, deer would come in the night before you were ready to pick a bunch of Pinkeye Purplehulls and clean 'em out - kinda like raccoons hit the sweet corn the night before you were planning to pick it.
Don't know how many of the cowpea strains produce pods that would hold up for late fall/winter consumption... Iron & Clay shatter out pretty badly once the pods dry.
I've read that, of all the legumes grown for edible beans/peas, etc., cowpeas are the only ones that fix more atmospheric N than they use in making and maturing seed.
Don't know how many of the cowpea strains produce pods that would hold up for late fall/winter consumption... Iron & Clay shatter out pretty badly once the pods dry.
I've read that, of all the legumes grown for edible beans/peas, etc., cowpeas are the only ones that fix more atmospheric N than they use in making and maturing seed.
Smokegobbler
5 year old buck +
I was ready to give up with small ag type soybeans plots after marginal success (at best). I came across a 1 acre electric fence kit on clearance and decided to give it one more try. Results have been night and day since going the electric fence route. I take the fence done in early November and have a great full stand thats lasts into December. It was much easier than I thought to install the fence. The location is a high density whitetail area.
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omicron1792
5 year old buck +
Cowpeas are way way more aggressive and browse tolerant than soybeans for me. They are easier to grow too.
I’ve been mixing them both but plots end up 90% peas. I might just leave off the soybeans next year.
I’ve been mixing them both but plots end up 90% peas. I might just leave off the soybeans next year.
omicron1792
5 year old buck +
They def don’t do as well as soybeans in that regard. They do hold some peas, but mine were so thick I cut the fields before planting. Will leave some and drill through it next year.
Brian662
5 year old buck +
I'm not a big summer food guy in Northern climates but I do like soybeans. I've had my best luck on them when farmers on adjacent properties(or my leased ag land) have beans planted as well. I have thought about the idea of the solar electric fence in years when that isn't the case and I may invest in something like that.
If you are just looking for summer food only, I would do Eagle beans and mow/disc them into the ground in late July to plant fall food. From the studies I've seen (mostly down south), peas don't have the nutritional value that beans do for summer forage.
If you are just looking for summer food only, I would do Eagle beans and mow/disc them into the ground in late July to plant fall food. From the studies I've seen (mostly down south), peas don't have the nutritional value that beans do for summer forage.
Turkey Creek
5 year old buck +
I am going to try and plant some soybeans, but I am pretty sure due to small plot sizes I will have to E fence them just to get them through the summer.
Yes just summer food. I was just thinking of trying something different and wondering if they would hold up to browsing better than beans. I read they take off really fast. Maybe they would get ahead of the deer. What you suggested is exactly what I do. Disk what is left of my beans in August and plant brassicas and winter rye. I have hundreds of acres of beans 3/4 mile away and they will not let my ag beans get taller than 6 inches. Eagles will make it to about 15 inches and it looks like you took a hedge trimmer across them. Pods are a waste of time they were gone in 2 weeks after the leaves came of the eagles.
Brian662
5 year old buck +
Sounds to me like thinning the herd may be suitable in your circumstance.
omicron1792
5 year old buck +
You don’t need it, it will spread and cover ground like a mat. There is thought it does better with something tall and allows better pod formation.
Sorghum Sudan and sub hemp works well. Then you’ll have Nitrogen galore for fall crop. Both of those grow so high and thick weeds are kept in check.
Sorghum Sudan and sub hemp works well. Then you’ll have Nitrogen galore for fall crop. Both of those grow so high and thick weeds are kept in check.
S.T.Fanatic
5 year old buck +
If it is just for summer food I would do a mix of cow peas, buckwheat, and sun hemp. I am doing the same thing but not looking at it as a summer food plot. It is a cover crop in preparation for fall rotation. Preference wouldn't be on my radar.
omicron1792
5 year old buck +
Love buckwheat too. My soil is low in phos so hope it is mining me some.
