Soybean question

[Daver]

Using a Genesis drill, I planted a 2 acre field of soybeans about 3-4 weeks ago now and have had some rains on the field. The beans came up looking fairly good, but I also had some weed growth happening too. The beans are RR tolerant, so I sprayed them last Saturday and would anticipate getting a good kill on the competing weeds. I would rate the stand as "fair" though, as the deer were really feasting on these new beans, much more than I anticipated so early.

The area planted is an area that I can, and will this weekend, totally enclose via electric fence. I also have 2 extra bags of beans on hand. I am considering drilling these two bags in over the top of the beans that are there and then blocking them off via fence. This is to overcome the heavy browsing that they have been getting. My idea would be to drill them in going perpendicular to the rows there already, so as to tear up as few of the existing, originally planted beans as possible.

Does this 'rescue" plan sound like a good idea? It may be overkill, but if I don't do it I feel like they have been browsed hard enough at a small stage that I am going to have a thin plot, prone to weed growth, etc.

 

[Nrharris]

Using a Genesis drill, I planted a 2 acre field of soybeans about 3-4 weeks ago now and have had some rains on the field. The beans came up looking fairly good, but I also had some weed growth happening too. The beans are RR tolerant, so I sprayed them last Saturday and would anticipate getting a good kill on the competing weeds. I would rate the stand as "fair" though, as the deer were really feasting on these new beans, much more than I anticipated so early.

The area planted is an area that I can, and will this weekend, totally enclose via electric fence. I also have 2 extra bags of beans on hand. I am considering drilling these two bags in over the top of the beans that are there and then blocking them off via fence. This is to overcome the heavy browsing that they have been getting. My idea would be to drill them in going perpendicular to the rows there already, so as to tear up as few of the existing, originally planted beans as possible.

Does this 'rescue" plan sound like a good idea? It may be overkill, but if I don't do it I feel like they have been browsed hard enough at a small stage that I am going to have a thin plot, prone to weed growth, etc.

It's done in the ag world all the time to help a poor stand. You can do perpendicular or pick an angle and go.

 

[Sligh1]

Yep! Interseed!!! Good moisture & time to grow. Be just fine! ^^^^^nrharris spot on above

 

[smithhunter1975]

Daver, I thought all your deer were gone from EHD? Must have had more survive than you thought?

 

[Daver]

Daver, I thought all your deer were gone from EHD? Must have had more survive than you thought?

Good memory...we did get whacked by EHD last year. We found around 18 carcasses, mainly while shed hunting, and I am 99% sure that we didn't find all of the "bones". I would estimate that we found roughly half, maybe less, of the die offs. But, by about mid-December last year we started to see some "new faces". Hmmm....our thought is that once shotgun season started up that we started to get some immigrants, but I really don't know that. FWIW, our observations are in line with close by neighbors too.

EHD was fairly widespread in our region, so at the time I didn't think we would see much of an influx of new deer. But...there is nothing more powerful to draw them in than to provide for all of their needs (habitat and food) AND keep the hunting/human pressure low. So...now...it seems like we are back to about 80% of what was around previously...and we had too many going into the EHD mess. So, we are kind of OK on numbers right now, not nearly as off as I would have imagined say last October. Go figure.

The base habitat in our neighborhood is very good, so if an area could "suck" them in from afar, it would be an area like ours. I watched 2 to 4 different deer come and go from that 2 acre bean field last Saturday all day long. I suspect that there were more that showed up after dark. All of that to say this...I am a firm believer that doe tags should be available for those that need them and a paucity of deer in one region does not mean that is true elsewhere.