What's going to happen to deer in agricultural areas?

[Foggy47]

When I was growing beans.....I spread Milorgranite over the beans and the deer stayed clear for a few weeks. The smell was off-putting to me as well.

 

[chucker66]

When I was growing beans.....I spread Milorgranite over the beans and the deer stayed clear for a few weeks. The smell was off-putting to me as well.

Milwaukee smells the same for some reason

 

[Cool Hand Luke]

That can also be due to pressure maybe?
But regardless you are correct. Alberta, eastern Mt, North Dakota, aren’t growing beans and they do just fine
I’d actually rather have alfalfa on my ground than beans. Longer food source for deer and just as nutritious

This is an interesting conversation. I grew up in a river bottom area only about 15 minutes North of our current farm. There was little to no Alfalfa ground but lots of timber and AG mixed. Now that I live in a much more open AG region probably closer to what T-Max sees, we have a fair amount of Alfalfa and I rarely if ever, see deer feeding in it. That could have something to do with cover though, because there's so much open ground around.

 

[Howboutthemdawgs]

This is an interesting conversation. I grew up in a river bottom area only about 15 minutes North of our current farm. There was little to no Alfalfa ground but lots of timber and AG mixed. Now that I live in a much more open AG region probably closer to what T-Max sees, we have a fair amount of Alfalfa and I rarely if ever, see deer feeding in it. That could have something to do with cover though, because there's so much open ground around.

The msu deer lab guys and Craig Harper rated alfalfa as the most nutritious I believe but its downsides are difficulty in growing and cost.
Personally, I love it because it’s a perennial and I believe stays more attractive throughout a season than beans. I think it’s a 1A, 1B thing so you can’t go wrong with either. Beans just lose their attractiveness in my opinion by September and once they gain any back as a carb, most farmers have harvested them.