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Learn me on soybeans

MuddyHntr

MuddyHntr

Active Member
I want to try my hand at some standing grain next year and want it to be soybeans. Excuse me if I have a few dumb questions as I have never planted soybeans. My plan is to go in early summer and till up an open area on top of a ridge and plant with soybeans. The total area should come out to about 2.5-3 acres. Im going to till it, use a spreader to spread the beans and then drag and cultipack. Hopefully they grow good and I'll have beans turning yellow in the fall when I will go in and broadcast winter rye into the beans. After letting them stand what do I do the following spring so I can replant? If I till the standing beans will that be fine? Also, if the deer browse the leaves heavy in the summer will the beans still produce pods? Thank you in advance for the help. I have never planted beans and I think its the missing food source on a particular property. Any other tips feel free to throw them my way.
 
Your planting plan sounds workable enough. Be sure to get Roundup Ready beans so that you can keep weeds under control. Aside from that, your success will depend on your deer density and whether or not there are other soybean fields in the immediate vicinity. The deer will pound the succulent young beans! Often hard enough that you will get no actual soybeans for fall/winter. IF the deer density is low enough, your 2 1/2-3 acres may be large enough that some of the beans will survive to set pods. Or, if there are other acres of beans close by, the pressure on yours may be diluted enough that they will set pods and offer a good draw after the other fields are harvested. If it all works out, you can mow, till and replant again next year. You can get away with beans on beans for a few years before you start to get Roundup Ready weeds... Good luck!
 
I did similar a few years ago. I thought I went heavy on the seed but possible lack of germination and browse left me disappointed where I tilled it up for a fall mix. I want to try it again. What rate were you thinking?

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arm said:
I did similar a few years ago. I thought I went heavy on the seed but possible lack of germination and browse left me disappointed where I tilled it up for a fall mix. I want to try it again. What rate were you thinking?

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I would probably go 1 1/2 the recommended rate or maybe even double the rate. Maybe a few more experienced people can chime in and shed light on planting without a drill.
 
Good stuff above.
Few things to add.... go to dbltree section on corn and beans.
Weed control, like mentioned, is critical and increasingly difficult. I’d highly suggest running some pre-emergents. Good pre’s (at any coop) would be: prowl h20, s- metolachlor (dual II magnum). Many others. Spray weeds before they get as tall as a pop can as well. If u don’t- u likely gonna have to pull in stuff like flexstarr to spray or a few more options. I personally love liberty beans but round up is a very viable option & especially if u spray on time & use pre’s.
Put down p,k, pelletized lime & about 5-10 lbs sulfur per acre. Dbltree section has more on this. For example... SOIL TEST. If not, example b actual 10-60-80 per acre, 5-10 lbs Sulfur, 250-500 lbs pelletized lime.
If no beans or crop in past... buy innoculant at coop. Cheap and important!!! Helps beans create N & provides the bacteria. Also- if no cropping- get treated beans.
Beans have a 2 year limit on bean on beans. There’s a LOT of fungal problems with bean on beans. There’s several bean varieties to tackle the different fungus so run a different variety the following year if bean on bean.
Agree on above - go heavy on seeding. Big a plot as possible. 250k-300k seeds per acre with super high fertility & as large of plot as Possible. That gives u best shot the deer don’t thin em to nothing. I’ve seen 10 acre secluded fields with heavy deer pressure wiped out. So- do em right. It seems complex, it “kinda” is but very doable. The reason i make it “complex” or it seems so.... skip important steps And u will be far more likely for a total failure. So - do em right!!! Good luck.
 
Sligh1 said:
Good stuff above.
Few things to add.... go to dbltree section on corn and beans.
Weed control, like mentioned, is critical and increasingly difficult. I’d highly suggest running some pre-emergents. Good pre’s (at any coop) would be: prowl h20, s- metolachlor (dual II magnum). Many others. Spray weeds before they get as tall as a pop can as well. If u don’t- u likely gonna have to pull in stuff like flexstarr to spray or a few more options. I personally love liberty beans but round up is a very viable option & especially if u spray on time & use pre’s.
Put down p,k, pelletized lime & about 5-10 lbs sulfur per acre. Dbltree section has more on this. For example... SOIL TEST. If not, example b actual 10-60-80 per acre, 5-10 lbs Sulfur, 250-500 lbs pelletized lime.
If no beans or crop in past... buy innoculant at coop. Cheap and important!!! Helps beans create N & provides the bacteria. Also- if no cropping- get treated beans.
Beans have a 2 year limit on bean on beans. There’s a LOT of fungal problems with bean on beans. There’s several bean varieties to tackle the different fungus so run a different variety the following year if bean on bean.
Agree on above - go heavy on seeding. Big a plot as possible. 250k-300k seeds per acre with super high fertility & as large of plot as Possible. That gives u best shot the deer don’t thin em to nothing. I’ve seen 10 acre secluded fields with heavy deer pressure wiped out. So- do em right. It seems complex, it “kinda” is but very doable. The reason i make it “complex” or it seems so.... skip important steps And u will be far more likely for a total failure. So - do em right!!! Good luck.
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This is basically the same as I did this yr as a 1st time plot. Mine was @ 3 3/4 acres. The area I am in has a fairly high deer population. The beans grew great but just as others have said, the damn deer will eat it down to hardly nothing. I ended up over seeding with turnips and radishes which saved the plot so to speak. This yr I'm going to try to electric fence the same plot. Not sure on beans or corn yet. After following very similar advice to that from above, I believe the deer will just be back in that "new" plot harder this coming yr. Good luck!
 
What do you consider to be a high deer density? How many deer will you have feeding in a field at night?
 
MuddyHntr said:
What do you consider to be a high deer density? How many deer will you have feeding in a field at night?
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Right now I will have 25-40 a night but that's not the problem. The problem is getting those beans through to late October and November (let alone late season). It starts as soon as those beans get out of the ground til they turn brown. Now the deer are bunched up and 25-40 is not normal for me. July-Sept I would have 12-18 out in them beans each evening. It's those 12-18 that do the damage! When I over seded the turnips and radishes I knew the beans would not make fall.
 
Add to what is above..... I would burn the area first before green up. This will make working a new planting so much easier and create a much nicer seed bed. Unless you have other ag soybeans around to ease browsing pressure, you may want to highly consider a hot zone fence.
 
IowaBowHunter1983 said:
Add to what is above..... I would burn the area first before green up. This will make working a new planting so much easier and create a much nicer seed bed. Unless you have other ag soybeans around to ease browsing pressure, you may want to highly consider a hot zone fence.
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The area I plan on planting is on top of a wooded ridge that has been clear cut. They took the dozer and made logging roads on top. The areas that were not hit with the dozer are thicker then thick and hold deer nicely. The logging round are now planted in a sort of clover the prevent erosion. The beans would span about 30-40 feet wide and almost a half mile winding and twisting road. The particular property lacks ag but has an alfalfa field. The surrounding areas has ag so I lose deer when the colder weather hits. My goal is to minimize the amount of clover that is on spread out on the property and concentrate it in one of my plots. The next goal is to turn the existing road system into beans to replace the clover and that will offer more of a variety of food for them. Access to the top of the ridge is difficult at best so I won't be hunting over it I simply want to try and hold deer and give them something to help them through winter. Im going to try the first year without a fence and see how heavy the browse is, hopefully I'll have a nice winter meal for the deer.
 
I always have a dirt plot on small acres they eat them as fast as they come up. I did 6 acres one time in a Corn combo and wasted a lot of dollars. I stick with the Brassica' Insures I have the food. Not sure on a 3 acre plot if fencing would work I have never tried this but maybe that's is an option for you.
 
Huntinguy said:
I personally think a long narrow strip of beans will get destroyed without electricity.
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I would tend to agree with this too, FWIW. Also, a narrow strip that is tree lined, by the sounds of things, will also struggle to get enough sunlight AND the surrounding trees will compete with the beans too. I wish you the best, but I think you might have a bit of a struggle on your hands with that configuration in that location.
 
I agree with above also. Between the trees sucking up all the moisture along with limited sunlight the beans that do come up will probably be pounded by the deer. I guess you could try it and always put something else in late summer if it fails but my gut feeling is that it probably will not work. Hope I am wrong....it would be a sweet kill plot if it was successful!
 
I wouldn’t be afraid to plant it to beans as long as you plan to over seed it in early August ahead of a rain with a brassicas/ turnip/ radish mix of some sort. Big thing is make sure to use an early bean variety ( Northern Ia 1.6-1.9 Southern IA 1.8-2.1) to make sure the beans, if they do make it, mature early enough that your over seed mix has time to establish. Worst case you feed deer a high protein source all summer and you fall back on turnips and radishes in the late fall. If I wasn’t going to over seed I would recommend fuller maturities.
 
There are no standing trees where Im planting so sun light won't be an issue. It has been clear cut and they took the high value timber and left the rest lay. The area is full of dead falls and new sapling growth. Im going to give a shot and see what I can come up with. If it fails I will over seed in the fall with a cereal grain or brassicas.
 
MuddyHntr said:
There are no standing trees where Im planting so sun light won't be an issue. It has been clear cut and they took the high value timber and left the rest lay. The area is full of dead falls and new sapling growth. Im going to give a shot and see what I can come up with. If it fails I will over seed in the fall with a cereal grain or brassicas.
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Gotcha, when you said it was 30'-40' on a ridgetop I envisioned trees surrounding it. If that is not the case then you are in a better position for sure...but I would still be a little skeptical how long a bean field that narrow will withstand deer pressure. But, worst case, they eat them all up, you can do like you said and overseed it later in the summer. Good luck.
 
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