No spray beans + Weed suppression mix?

[Bassattackr]

Looking for ideas to integrate other crop(s) with row planted beans to help with weed suppression. My plots are clean in some areas (ends) but have aggressive amounts of ragweed and a nice patch of foxtail in them. Without an expensive no till drill, I'm limited to disc and a 4 row JD planter. The main issue is warm season weed growth.

Initially the plots looked great through early June. They did receive some deer pressure but appeared to have rebounded well. I have quite a bit of beans around me so despite the small (1 acre) plot, they are holding up well to browse. Used standard Ag beans.

The end of the plot looks pretty good (Pics from Aug 4th), although the early browse set this first section back a bit.



Spare sunflower the planter dropped



As I move toward the center, the ragweed, foxtail heads are present and quite thick.

 

[Bassattackr]

Tentative plan for next year below. Looking to more naturally suppress the foxtail, ragweed without spraying (Owners won't allow it).

Expand plot to 2 acres (not related, just a bonus).
- Disc entire 2 acres
- 2 acres of row planted beans (100 lb)
- Broadcast WGF Milo - 10#
- Broadcast Peredovic Sunflowers - 10#
- Broadcast Proso Millet - 5#

Few random thoughts/questions:

- WGF should help with some shading, but not sure if it will produce heads with early weed competition? Would really like to add. Years ago I saw how Paul Knox blended with beans, liking the idea.

- Sunflowers likely get hardest eaten but not a huge deal. I don't want a ton of tall structure to the plot as I'd like to still be able to bowhunt through it.

- Millet added for weed suppression but don't want Pearl due to height.

- Considered buckwheat but a little hesitant due to extremely quick growth - will it suppress my "good" crops too quickly?

- Maybe Sun Hemp? Prefer not due to the height.

What say the experts?

 

[Bill]

I’d switch to a forage bean and make two passes so the space in between rows gets a row. If you can get them to canopy the grass should be less.

I know some people say you can have mold/mildew issues if the rows are to tight. I’ve been planting beans on 7.5 inch rows for years with out a problem.

 

[Bill]

But there may be mix that would be even better. I’ve got beans in with sunflowers, sorghum and winter peas that look better than my stand alone beans.

 

[Bassattackr]

I’d switch to a forage bean and make two passes so the space in between rows gets a row. If you can get them to canopy the grass should be less.

Ha I thought about that Bill. My first thought was I'd end up with 2" to 18" rows and everything in between. Hard to see where the planter goes after the fact. Not opposed to trying though!

I'd love to see a pic of that beans/sunflower/sorghum/peas mix Bill. How do the beans and peas do with the tall sorghum?

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

Ha I thought about that Bill. My first thought was I'd end up with 2" to 18" rows and everything in between. Hard to see where the planter goes after the fact. Not opposed to trying though!

Plant your beans like you did this year. After they germinate and you can see the rows run the planter back through to fill in the space between the rows.

OR:

sub clover or white dutch clover between the rows.

 

[Bill]

I'd love to see a pic of that beans/sunflower/sorghum/peas mix Bill. How do the beans and peas do with the tall sorghum?

at first look seems like only sorghum but there are beans in there.


Sunflowers too



And very little AWP

Plus lots of foxtail and weeds.
This was three weeks ago with little rain. And none since then.

 

[Bill]

Plant your beans like you did this year. After they germinate and you can see the rows run the planter back through to fill in the space between the rows.

OR:

sub clover or white dutch clover between the rows.

I keep threatening to rig sprayer nozzles up on the press wheels of my drill to drill beans into clover.
Haven’t don it yet.

 

[Bassattackr]

Plant your beans like you did this year. After they germinate and you can see the rows run the planter back through to fill in the space between the rows.

OR:

sub clover or white dutch clover between the rows.

Solid idea but unfortunately its my neighbors planter so I don't want to push my luck with asking for access too much

Interesting thought on the clover. It makes a great companion crop but not much for smothering weeds in my experience, unless really planted thick perhaps.

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

Clover and oats?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[SD51555]

Nature is minding your food groups for ya. There are three major food groups: Grasses, legumes, broadleaves.

You brought the legumes, she gave you foxtail for grass, ragweed for broadleaf. I don't get bent outta shape about common ragweed. I'd plant it if I could get my hands on the seed.

Throw in a light rate of spring forage barley, flax, and buckwheat. Flax and barley are cheap, and they play well with others in a blend.

 

[yoderjac]

If your

Looking for ideas to integrate other crop(s) with row planted beans to help with weed suppression. My plots are clean in some areas (ends) but have aggressive amounts of ragweed and a nice patch of foxtail in them. Without an expensive no till drill, I'm limited to disc and a 4 row JD planter. The main issue is warm season weed growth.

Initially the plots looked great through early June. They did receive some deer pressure but appeared to have rebounded well. I have quite a bit of beans around me so despite the small (1 acre) plot, they are holding up well to browse. Used standard Ag beans.

The end of the plot looks pretty good (Pics from Aug 4th), although the early browse set this first section back a bit.

View attachment 31282

Spare sunflower the planter dropped

View attachment 31283

As I move toward the center, the ragweed, foxtail heads are present and quite thick.

View attachment 31284

That is a beautiful deer plot for the south! Not so much if you're in the north and pods for winter are your objective. You are probably far enough south that summer is your major stress period. Why do we plant for deer during the summer? Certainly not for attraction. Either you are planting for summer nutrition or you are far enough north that you are planting soybeans for pods or corn for cobs during the winter. If your objective, as I suspect, is summer nutrition, you could not ask for a better plot. I'm not sure when the last picture was taken, but I would presume mid-summer. Keep in mind, any food that does not end up in the belly of a deer doesn't count toward nutrition. So, if there are beans available when you summer stress period wanes, it has met your objective.

As SDS implies, nature abhors a monoculture. As deer managers we are not planting for harvest. None of the weeds you mention are particularly problematic. Ragweed is a fine deer food, and foxtail provides seeds for doves and small birds and it is easily controlled with gly.

I stopped planting soybeans because of a noxious weed, marestail. If you had it or pigweed, or something else that was not wildlife friendly, I'd suggest something similar to what I'm doing. I'm switching away from gly for burn-down this year as marestail is naturally resistant to it and moving to a liberty clone. I've also been planting a smother crop mix of Buckwheat and sunn hemp that provide good deer food but are very competitive with weeds without post-emergence herbicides. But with the weeds you list, I'd say be weed tolerant and rock-on!

Thanks,

Jack

 

[Bassattackr]

Thanks Jack. I'm not against those "weeds" by an means (and I agree those are the better ones to have), but my primary goal is pods in the winter to hunt over.

Verdict is still out, if I get enough pods to hunt over later in the year then I'll be happy. I think a weedy foodplot tends to be favored by many animals, not only whitetails! I'm the type of person that likes to tinker, and won't leave well enough alone sometimes.

I'm in mid MO, probably fairly even balance between summer/winter weather and stress periods.

 

[FarmerDan]

Well, weeds are your friend until they are not. They tend to act like a pack of hungry teenage boys. I have only two things to offer in keeping your weed pressure on the skinny side. Those 36" rows? You don't need to split them, but you do need more canopy potential to keep the bad boys in the shade. In fact, you don't need rows at all. Your not going to run a sprayer or a combine thru them. How about a crisscross planting. Plant you rows as you have and then run a diagonal to opposite corners. It gets a little short as you move from the center, but you don't need to cover the whole field. The other thing is, and you probably won't like this, get into the worst weed patches and cut 'em down (no herbicides, right?). Stop them from going to seed. Stop those hungry boys! Free advice, friend and that's probably what it's worth! Good luck.

 

[Bassattackr]

Ha you laugh Dan, but I've actually thought about using a push mower once a year through those rows. Damn that would be a lot of work though, even for an acre or two!

Great point about the rows, I've thought about broadcasting first also and then planting over the top of them, similar strategy to what you're saying. I like it.

 

[FarmerDan]

Ha you laugh Dan, but I've actually thought about using a push mower once a year through those rows. Damn that would be a lot of work though, even for an acre or two!

Great point about the rows, I've thought about broadcasting first also and then planting over the top of them, similar strategy to what you're saying. I like it.

Yes, forget the lawn mower. I use a string trimmer. Just knock the tops off the weeds when they get taller than the beans. Keep the competition even and keep those seed heads from maturing. A well timed clip should be enough. Eventually, (Dan said and GOD laughed) the beans will get taller than the weeds! And, it's great exercise! Feel those endorphins now?

 

[SWIFFY]

1st thing id try is adding a forage bean to your mix. Even if you plant 1/4 Forage beans and 3/4 ag beans it will still help the browse pressure and help them canopy faster.

Sorghum seems to broadcast well and you wouldnt have the height issues as you would with the millet maybe. I always get a good seed head from sorghum.

I like the idea of planting rows criss-crossed... those wide rows are really whats hurting you, those are WIDE!

 

[yoderjac]

Yes, forget the lawn mower. I use a string trimmer. Just knock the tops off the weeds when they get taller than the beans. Keep the competition even and keep those seed heads from maturing. A well timed clip should be enough. Eventually, (Dan said and GOD laughed) the beans will get taller than the weeds! And, it's great exercise! Feel those endorphins now?

Depends on the weed...In my marestail fight, I found timing is everything. If I mow a clover field with marestail, it just regrows shorter and still has time to develop seed heads. If I wait until it flowers and mow just before it goes to seed, the plant has wasted a lot of energy producing those flowers and trying to produce seeds that never mature. It no longer has enough warm season left to go to seed a second time. Of course, it will probably still regrow next year from the same root system.

Mowing it too soon or worse, waiting too long, can make the problem worse!

Thanks,

Jack