Planted beans
Contributors to this thread:Wisconsin
From: ACU bowhunter
31-May-15
So we planted our 3 acres of soy beans last weekend (the 23rd). We had a little over 2 inches of rain since then, and when I was up yesterday the beans were all exposed on the surface and just starting to sprout. We broadcast the seed in a worked over seed bed, harrow over, then cultipack. We have had plenty of success like this is the past but they just seem very exposed and I am a little concerned. Thoughts?
From: Bow Crazy
01-Jun-15
You should be fine. I broadcast as well, I do plant twice as thick so if only 50% come up I'm fine. When you broadcast and cover you will always have some that are exposed, same with corn. BC
From: Badger Bucks
01-Jun-15
BC +1
From: 10orbetter
01-Jun-15
Turkey! They could pummel the plot.
From: sagittarius
02-Jun-15
By "harrow over", do you mean spike tooth harrow, or disk harrow. Shallow disking the soybeans into the soil works great. On the surface, they may dry out without timely rainfall, or get eaten by turkeys, cranes, rodents, and other birds.
From: Badger Bucks
03-Jun-15
I assumed when he said "worked over" that he set a disk to twice the depth that he wanted the seeds to be down (about 2 inches down for a 1 inch seed depth), then went over it with a harrow and then a cultipacker. Looking back, if that's the case, I might have skipped the harrow over. It might have worked some seed back to the top.
The bigger concern I have on small secluded plots of soybeans is deer nibbling off all the small plants before they can get established. My 2 acre plot is in corn this year, but I think next year I'm going to invest in a solar powered electric fence. Two strands of wire around the entire field until the beans reach canopy.
My 7 acre crop field is large enough, and exposed enough, that pressure isn't an issue.
