TITAN FORAGE SOYBEANS

[Mennoniteman]

I got 8 acres planted spread across 6 plots. Germination was fast in damp plots, slower in drier plots. I noticed they were getting nipped at ground level and assumed the deer were doing their thing. I went out tonight to check on them and to my surprise, watched a young bear methodically nipping every plant it came across. After watching for several minutes, I stepped in the open from a hundred yards waived my arms and started shouting. The young bear politely ran off…. Sadly, I didn’t have my phone with me. I’m not sure what will become of the plots….

Our bears regularly graze newly planted 6-8" tall cereal rye in the fall but I have never heard of a bear eating beans? Turkeys love them right after they emerge, then let them go about when the deer start hitting them, at that point these Titan's are the only soybean that has consistently been able to outgrow our deer grazing pressure, but I never tried them in a smaller plot than 3 acres. I guess next year I'm going to have to try 2 bags on an acre plot to see if I can get a stand.
I'm not exactly sure why, but in corn and beans regarding crop damage, a quantity of small plots such as your 8 acres planted spread across 6 plots never seems to fare quite as well as one bigger field does. It seems like one bigger field has possibly a dozen animals hitting it during the course of 24 hours, whereas every small field has only half as many animals hitting it during a one day period, but the smaller plots allow the animals to feed closer to cover, make the animals feel safer, and they therefore they tend to stay longer. In a 6 acre bean field I hardly ever see an animal out in the middle during daylight.

 

[Elkaddict]

I anticipated heavy browsing pressure and planted heavy. Because I broadcast planted, coverage is not uniform…. Interested in seeing what survives. I figure the thin areas will get overseeded with brassicas in a 5-6 weeks, and everything will be overseeded with rye come late August.

Our bears regularly graze newly planted 6-8" tall cereal rye in the fall but I have never heard of a bear eating beans? Turkeys love them right after they emerge, then let them go about when the deer start hitting them, at that point these Titan's are the only soybean that has consistently been able to outgrow our deer grazing pressure, but I never tried them in a smaller plot than 3 acres. I guess next year I'm going to have to try 2 bags on an acre plot to see if I can get a stand.
I'm not exactly sure why, but in corn and beans regarding crop damage, a quantity of small plots such as your 8 acres planted spread across 6 plots never seems to fare quite as well as one bigger field does. It seems like one bigger field has possibly a dozen animals hitting it during the course of 24 hours, whereas every small field has only half as many animals hitting it during a one day period, but the smaller plots allow the animals to feed closer to cover, make the animals feel safer, and they therefore they tend to stay longer. In a 6 acre bean field I hardly ever see an animal out in the middle during daylight.

 

[Mennoniteman]

My Titan forage beans are struggling a bit, but still chugging along. Between planting a little later, not being able to spray weeds because of rain, and the deer have absolutely been zeroed in on them, so I'm not sure how they will look by September.
I have a clip here of finally spraying them with 48 oz of Thundermaster, not 32 oz as I misspoke in the video.
https://youtube.com/shorts/_Zl13Sz3Uhc?feature=share

 

[Elkaddict]

I’ve had mixed results…. I planted later than you did and we’ve had unusually dry weather. I broadcast 3+ bags per acre which I think was about right. Two plots are an outright failure….not sure why. Maybe bad seed….as germination was something like 40% of the other plots. Deer and a bear are in them daily, However, my biggest problem has been woodchucks. These plots were cut out of the woods and the slash piles have become home to too many of them. Ares near the slash piles are completely void of any surviving plants. I’ve thinned numbers down, but not enough. I never had this problem with corn…. I must confess to not having seen this coming. I’ll start broadcasting brassicas into the thin areas after one more round of spraying.

 

[RGrizzzz]

My Titan forage beans are struggling a bit, but still chugging along. Between planting a little later, not being able to spray weeds because of rain, and the deer have absolutely been zeroed in on them, so I'm not sure how they will look by September.
I have a clip here of finally spraying them with 48 oz of Thundermaster, not 32 oz as I misspoke in the video.
https://youtube.com/shorts/_Zl13Sz3Uhc?feature=share

How are the beans doing? This year has been pretty dry in most of PA.

 

[deer patch]

Any updates from either of you? MM…do you remember what shipping cost were for you from specialty seed?

 

[Elkaddict]

As a requested, here is an update and some photos. The beans have at least doubled the deer on us this summer (they are far more interested in these than clover). Because these were spread over multiple 1 to 2 acre plots, there been a different group of deer in each day and night. Except on some of the edges, growth has been 8” to16” in height. Because they came in quite thin in some areas, weed competition, particularly quick weed and grasses , have been a real problem. These fields were sprayed multiple times….and one field, which I’m embarrassed to show was taken over. The only reason I didn’t nuke it and replant with grains is there are lots of brassicas intermingled with the stunted beans. All the fields have been overseeded with brassicas and grain.

Notwithstanding the challenges and the likelihood I’ll get little grain production, I’ll probably go this route again for a few years to try to put a dent in the quick weed. Not optimal or cheap, but it’s this or RR corn.

 

[deer patch]

As a requested, here is an update and some photos. The beans have at least doubled the deer on us this summer (they are far more interested in these than clover). Because these were spread over multiple 1 to 2 acre plots, there been a different group of deer in each day and night. Except on some of the edges, growth has been 8” to16” in height. Because they came in quite thin in some areas, weed competition, particularly quick weed and grasses , have been a real problem. These fields were sprayed multiple times….and one field, which I’m embarrassed to show was taken over. The only reason I didn’t nuke it and replant with grains is there are lots of brassicas intermingled with the stunted beans. All the fields have been overseeded with brassicas and grain.

Notwithstanding the challenges and the likelihood I’ll get little grain production, I’ll probably go this route again for a few years to try to put a dent in the quick weed. Not optimal or cheap, but it’s this or RR corn. View attachment 24474View attachment 24477 View attachment 24476View attachment 24478 View attachment 24474

Thanks Elk for the update. Your situation with smaller plots and planting beans hits home here also. I’ve tried it a couple of times with forage type eagle beans and regular beans and my planting looked like your plots in September as well. I was thinking about planting beans again but I remember the last time i did and I told myself then, that I would never plant them again.

 

[Elkaddict]

After debating all winter, I’m doing a corn bean mix this year (I’ll use left over Titans and ag beans). The corn has been too important for heavy snows. I’d really prefer to plant more brassicas but my quickweed/lambsquarter make that impossible. I know I’d benefit from no-till planting (less ground disturbance ) enabling my weeds but I “grow” so many rocks I fear I’d break some expensive equipment.

 

[Mennoniteman]

After debating all winter, I’m doing a corn bean mix this year (I’ll use left over Titans and ag beans). The corn has been too important for heavy snows. I’d really prefer to plant more brassicas but my quickweed/lambsquarter make that impossible. I know I’d benefit from no-till planting (less ground disturbance ) enabling my weeds but I “grow” so many rocks I fear I’d break some expensive equipment.

Do you fence the bean and corn mix?

 

[Elkaddict]

Do you fence the bean and corn mix?

No. Although we planted 10 acres, it was spread out across multiple plots. Titans were phenomenal at withstanding browse and it doubled the deer on our property. The problem is we didn’t produce a single bean pod...and I’m really not hurting for summer food. I’m not a huge fan of corn as it’s hard on soils and is a real pain to clean up the stalks in the spring before replanting. However, it creates winter food the deer can get to even with heavy snow. I’ll probably rotate corn and beans and hope in time to decrease the quickweed/lambs quarter infestation through RR. If I had a magic wand, I’d plant 5 acres of corn bean mix and 5 acres of brassicas every year. Sadly, brassicas are not an option as a stand alone crop given my weed problems

 

[Mennoniteman]

No. Although we planted 10 acres, it was spread out across multiple plots. Titans were phenomenal at withstanding browse and it doubled the deer on our property. The problem is we didn’t produce a single bean pod...and I’m really not hurting for summer food. I’m not a huge fan of corn as it’s hard on soils and is a real pain to clean up the stalks in the spring before replanting. However, it creates winter food the deer can get to even with heavy snow. I’ll probably rotate corn and beans and hope in time to decrease the quickweed/lambs quarter infestation through RR. If I had a magic wand, I’d plant 5 acres of corn bean mix and 5 acres of brassicas every year. Sadly, brassicas are not an option as a stand alone crop given my weed problems

Titan beans went in the ground May 5, I need to get back out and spray them.