Forage soybeans
- Thread starter jlane35
- Start date
dogdoc
Well-Known Member
The only forage soybeans I have experience with is the Eagle Beans. I did a side by side a couple years ago with some Ag beans (don't remember the maturity). They were planted the same day and the amount of forage produced by the Eagle was well over twice what the Ag beans produced. Just the leaf alone was 3X larger. The Eagles also were able to bounce back quicker from foraging pressure.
How many acres do you plan on planting?
How many acres do you plan on planting?
Doe Shooter
Active Member
$$$$$$$$$ The Eagle costs 3X RR soybeans. Any body ever tried mixing the in the field?
Blizzard Ridge
Well-Known Member
I planted real world soybeans this year and had great results. I still have beans standing 3' tall in the plots with full bean pods top to bottom. We waited for a few weeks after the farmers planted and then planted ours. It seemed to help with browsing considerably. One of the other plots we did had corn around it and they raped our bean plot as quick as they came up. I would say with the problems you are having if you want beans you will either have to fence it or go with a different food source. We always top our beans with RW plot topper in the fall to make sure if the beans don't make it we will end up with some good brassica, turnip and radish greens for them to eat late season. We are on the time of year that I planted my beans for so we will see how they pay off in the next couple of weeks.
swat1018
Well-Known Member
I couldn't grow a bean in NE Missouri until I got to 4-5 acres with my densities. I planted Eagles in small plots, they couldn't kill them, but they never got very big, but it was also in a drought. If I was going to mix Eagles with Ag, and I may, I would plant the ag toward the center and plant the perimeter in Eagles. With all that forage around the perimeter, I think the Ag beans in the center would make it better.
MarkDarvin
Well-Known Member
I've wanted to try a long maturity bean to see if they would have a longer growth period before they try to set and fill pods. i don't know if I can get a group 6 or later bean up where I'm at. Don't see myself getting a lot of attention when I ask to order one bag that the local guys don't carry.
swat1018
Well-Known Member
Another crop you may want to try is sorghum/milo. I planted it in several plots, big and small. The deer don't bother with it until it's ripe, which is during the fall. I'm having a problem gauging usage. One farm I just planted some strips, as an attempt at screening. I also planted some in part of a mix in a large area. The deer ate every stitch of grain in the screens and scattered through the mix on that farm. On another farm I planted a long strip for screening, plus two sorghum/milo/millet plots of about an acre. When I left the farm they were just nibbling on it, but not devouring it like the other farm. The only difference I can see is that the second farm had standing corn on it and 600 acres standing corn around it until last week. I'm hoping they just liked the corn better, but are hitting the plots now. I'm 6 hours away, so not sure.
Smokinbenelli
Member
Good luck. If you have that kind of pressure in there, they will keep them mowed down. If it wasn't for the exclusion cage, I would've thought my 3ac of real world beans were junk. Nope, they just hammered them.
All of the forage type soybeans that I know of were developed from the laredo variety soybean, sometimes called laredo haybeans. Not sure how these would compare to a soybean that has been cultivated specifically for herbicide application, browse resistance, leaf size, disease resistance, drought tolerance, etc.. like an Eagle bean is but it's another option if you can find some seed.
Doe Shooter
Active Member
Thanks. I didn't know that
Brokenbear
Active Member
Silage beans will grow 2 to 3 times the forage as a standard row crop RR soy bean PLUS keep regenerating whereas a row crop bean is pretty much done when the deer mow it off at or about ground level ...not so the silage bean and that is fact
This year I planted Laredo silage beans (non RR beans in place of Eagle RR beans) and the grass and weed control cost (should have checked chemical BEFORE decision) (note to self:investigate beginning to end costs) due to very special chemical cocktails required for the non RR nature of the Laredo was cost prohibitive so we had to let nature take it's course which means it became a jungle ...so back to the Eagle for us
This coming year we are going back to planting as we have done successfully before and ring the RR ag beans with Eagles
The ease of the Eagle bean to get to fruitation ...for a silage bean.... is worth the price difference BUT ...shop around as there are "ways" to buy Eagles a lot less that the first initial prices I found when I first got interested in them ...shipping is big $$ in cost ...a lot of sportsmen clubs and other organizations have banded together to form buying groups
I did not participate in the Eagles this year in our area so this is strictly HEARSAY but I am thinking the early expectation of the group buy was $75 to $80 / bag ...it must have hit the target or close as I heard no complaints ...
So being pro active such as finding or starting a group and the eagle quickly gets easier to include in your plot budget
Merry CHRISTmas to all
Bear
This year I planted Laredo silage beans (non RR beans in place of Eagle RR beans) and the grass and weed control cost (should have checked chemical BEFORE decision) (note to self:investigate beginning to end costs) due to very special chemical cocktails required for the non RR nature of the Laredo was cost prohibitive so we had to let nature take it's course which means it became a jungle ...so back to the Eagle for us
This coming year we are going back to planting as we have done successfully before and ring the RR ag beans with Eagles
The ease of the Eagle bean to get to fruitation ...for a silage bean.... is worth the price difference BUT ...shop around as there are "ways" to buy Eagles a lot less that the first initial prices I found when I first got interested in them ...shipping is big $$ in cost ...a lot of sportsmen clubs and other organizations have banded together to form buying groups
I did not participate in the Eagles this year in our area so this is strictly HEARSAY but I am thinking the early expectation of the group buy was $75 to $80 / bag ...it must have hit the target or close as I heard no complaints ...
So being pro active such as finding or starting a group and the eagle quickly gets easier to include in your plot budget
Merry CHRISTmas to all
Bear
Razorback
Member
I agree with others who said you probably need more than 3 ac. The non-RR forage beans aren't too difficult to maintain. I use the non RR ones from eagle seeds. Just spray metolachlor (dual or generic) before or at planting and then Raptor (beyond and clearcast are other names of same product) a few weeks after germination. The non RR eagle beans were about $40/bag this year. Eagle has them in several maturity groups. Raptor seems very expensive at first glance but only 5 oz/ac is used. One gallon treats 25 ac. The per acre cost is not bad. Cheaper than the cost of buying the RR eagles. We have RR resistant pigweed and marestail so we have to spray raptor/beyond anyway.
I have planted the Eagle RR forage beans for several years in a single 2 acre field. A deer exclusion fence of some type is necessary for at least 6-8 weeks to get the beans up enough to with stand constant grazing. Newly sprouted beans can easily be wiped out in a few nights of grazing and won't come back. Once they are up to knee height, they will tolerate constant grazing and just keep on putting out new growth..
catscratch
Well-Known Member
Do the pods ever run out? Say you have an acre or two that you fenced off and let grow pods, how long into the winter before the deer stop using the plot?
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