Forage Soybeans?
Whitetail Deer
I am considering planting forage soybeans in a food plot this year and am looking for opinions of people who have previously used them. How long do they stay green and how tall will they get? Any thoughts or advice would be helpful.
Just tried them for myself for the first time this year.
This is the 3rd season I am planitng them (20 acres)...here in west central MN...I alos have clover, alfalfa, chicory, corn and sugar beets..... if I could only plant one type of food plot it would be WITHOUT QUESTION...soybeans (roundup ready). They just started coming through the ground on Monday of this week and will eat them all season (from now until they are gone in February) except for about 7-10 days when the leaves go yellow. One of the highest protien levels as well...turkeys eat them also.
How tall they get will depend on how much you plant versus how hard the plot gets hit. We planted them for the first time this year so I don't speak from a lot of experience but I did alot of research before we planted. The research suggested that we plant 5 ac of foodplot for every 100 ac. We have high deer densities so I hope it works out.
I planted a few seeds in the flower bed at the house and I've got one soybean plant that's about 18 inches tall already.
If you have lots of deer you better plant lots of beans. I planted 3 acres three weeks ago. They came up great after a rain. Got zero today.
don't spend any extra money on any fancy beans. none will be better than the others. if you find out what variety your getting in that fancy bag you can get them at half price!
call the seed manufacturers....they alwys have left over (yes, last year) cull beans....just make sure they are roundup ready!
check with you state game agency. many seed companies donate carryover seed that does not meet germination standards for food plots. You will need to increase population rates, but the seed is usually free. some organizations like Pheasants Forever also supply seed for food plots at a subsidised price or for free.
Forage soybeans are not the same thing as regular, farm, soybeans. Forage soybeans produce less beans (I think anyway) but a lot more stems and leaves. From what I've read they can grow 4+ feet tall. I think they would be a great food source during the summer but by bow season not so much. Now, I could be wrong. I think if you are looking for a fall attractant, regular soybeans with more pods on them would be much better to plan for November/December attractant. Once it freezes the leaves will turn brown. BC
Check out Dr. Grant Woods site growingdeertv.com. He uses forage soybeans as part of his food plot plan. He's very knowledgable and has an informative site.
Eagle soybeans are not the normal soybean. The deer can eat them and they come back. They get huge, waist high and thick. This is my second year for them. That's what Dr. Woods uses.
Monsanto and Roundup Ready products, and all their other GMO products have been outlawed in many countries. I would not introduce them on my property, or eat the products myself, or eat an animal that is fed Monsanto Products. DO a google search on Monsanto, it products, and its ways of doing business......
bowcrazy- my regular beans produce all the green that a deer needs for summer at less then half the cost. does Dr. woods have a vested interest in the fancy beans?
Did Henry Ford have a vested in interest in his products? Most people that advertise for something do. That dosen't mean that the product isn't good or that it may in fact it isn't superior over other products.
Buckfvr, I hope you don't hunt in or around farm country. If you do, chances are very good that you're killing and eating deer that have been eating crops where Monsanto products (or equivalent generics) have been used.
two-oh-two, if your regular beans produce all the green your deer need right now, then you could plant half as much of Eagle Soybeans, give them the same amount (or more) of green summer food, and take the other half of your food plot acreage and put it into something else or have it prepared for a fall plot. This is my 3rd year to plant Eagle Seed Soybeans, and yes, they are expensive, but they are so worth it. And no, I do not have a vested interest in the company. I drove 120 miles round trip in early May to pick up a few bags at the nearest place to me this year. Attached is a pic of some sunflowers and Eagle Soybeans in an exclusion cage in one of my plots 2 years ago. The picture was taken in late August. The cage is 5 feet tall, and there were some soybean plants that were sticking up at least a foot over the top. They would have been even taller if the deer didn't keep nipping them off once they grew above the top of the cage. This is in "decent" soil, but not "great" soil. I would bet they will grow almost twice as tall as your regular RR soybeans, and the leaves will be twice as big as well. I've got regular RR soybeans planted all neighboring farms all around me, and my Eagle Beans are way ahead of them in both height and leaf size.
Joshua
Joshua - What variety of the Eagle beans did you plant?
Thanx
They are not generics.....they are genetically modified, and real testing has found them to be toxic. I avoid the stuff when possible, lucky for me, I hunt mostly forest land, very little of it bordering alfalfa. R
forage soybeans, buck forage oats, whitetail clover, antlermax, biomax are all proof that marketing works to sell a product that isn't any better than the stuff you can buy at a seed store!
I disagree. For the last 4 years I've planted buck forage oats and they attract 3 times the number of deer that regular feer store winter wheat and oats do.
Buckfvr, I'm with ya,after reading up on genetically engineered products I lost my appetite real quick! It is toxic! and it is in our food chain , not good! And Monsanto does not care.
Watch Food Inc. and you will never want to use GMO.
+1 for eagle seed, like beans on steroids.
Zbone, that was the Wildlife Managers Mix, but now I just plant the Large Lad variety.
two-oh-two, I've never used buck forage oats or whitetail clover, and I buy 99% of my seeds from the seed store and make my own mixes. But, I can assure you, Eagle's forage soybeans are far and away better than the "average" RR soybean, not just in the amount of forage they produce, but also in their ability to withstand heavy browsing and continue to put out new growth. I have tried regular RR beans and Eagle Beans, and there ain't no comparison. It's not even close. Garden variety RR soybeans never got more than a foot tall for me because the deer were hitting them so hard and they weren't putting out new growth. Even the Eagle beans outside my exclusion cage were up to the middle of my thigh. The deer were hammering them (as the picture clearly shows), but the deer simply couldn't keep up with the aggressive new growth the Eagle beans were putting out. Unless you have tried both garden variety RR beans and Eagle brand beans, when you talk down about Eagle brand beans you just make yourself look silly and ignorant.
Combination of buckwheat,forage soybeans, and summer peas planted about 1 month ago.
another field with same combo
Here is a photo showing the difference in leaf size between one of the Eagle Seed soybean cultivars and a regular RR soybean cultivar.
I posted above that the forage soybeans produce less seeds/seed pods, it that correct? The seeds are a big attractant in the late fall for me.
You really have my interest for next year. If I can plant less forage soys and get the same or more yeild I would be very interested. Then I could something new or more of something else.
Thanks,
BC
BC, my Eagle soybeans produced quite a few seed pods even though the deer were hammering them. I can't tell you an honest comparison of seed pod production between them and the regular RR variety, since the regular RR variety soybeans produced almost no seed pods for me. I believe Eagle makes some "ag" soybeans also that are geared more toward seed production, but I always buy the forage variety so I don't know anything about their "ag" varieties.
What kind of row spacing are you planting on the eagle beans?
Questions,do forage beans stay green longer, or later in the season. I'm also thinking it isn't too late to plant here in my area this year. Lots of farmers here plant beans into July.
Anyone know where I can buy a sample pack?
Lee, I don't have a row planter. I disc the ground, broadcast the beans, lightly disc again. Works well.
Steeler, that is another benefit of the Eagle Beans I forgot to mention. Regular RR soybeans planted by farmers around here are usually yellow by about the 2nd week in September. My Eagle Beans stay green right up until our first hard frost, which is usually sometime in mid to late October. So, I normally get 4-6 weeks more out of Eagle Beans for "forage" purposes than I ever did with regular RR beans.
Zbone, that is the one bad thing about Eagle Beans. The number of dealers in Ohio is very low. I'm not even sure where the nearest is in central Ohio, not very close to me for sure. I got mine this year because a friend ordered a pallet and he had some extras (still had to sign the Monsanto RR agreement). I know there are some at the Southern States in Maysville, KY, and that might be where I get mine next year. Long drive, but worth it.
Immune. They are genetically engineered to tolerate the active ingredient in Round-up which is glyphosate.
Yeah Joshua - Looks like I'm SOL. I called eagle seeds today and they said they couldn't sell anything smaller than a 50-pound bag ($70+) due to a patent. I was only looking for a handful of the climbing variety to experiment around some trees and poles but the kid on the phone said they were out of stock.
Didn’t sound very business smart like either – Didn’t offer to go back and see if they could sweep a few off the floor for a small envelope to send to experiment. Oh well.
You probably interupted him texting his friend on his I-phone.
Zbone they very well could be out of stock, It took me about 3 weeks longer than it should have to get my seed. I guess supply isn't meeting demand...
