Like to start a discussion we've dabbled in on other places here, at least I know Covey and I have....next year soybeans are going to become a big part of the food plot rotation at the property. We've never had a section large enough to justify soybeans and I'm excited to think they can finally be included and most likely make it to maturity. Question or discussion is not about variety...I'm most likely going to go with Real World or Eagle...the discussion is about planting method. We don't have a drill which I know and wish we had. We may get a 2 or 4 row planter to borrow, but I'm not going to plan on this....so if we can let's discuss broadcasting soybeans and experiences doing such. Let's assume burn off is done, all existing plants are sprayed and killed (most of the areas will have been plots this fall going into next spring of cereal grains or brassicas). Recommendations? Would one (A) just broadcast and maybe roll afterwords, obviously attempting to do this right before predicted moisture and preferably in soil that is somewhat moist but not saturated (soft). Or would you (B) broadcast, then lightly disc or run a harrow maybe over and then roll? I know some claim to just instead of 70lbs an acre rate broadcast 100lbs/acre rate and have had good success...but lot more trusted experience is present on this forum.
I don't have too many years of experience with beans but I do beleive that broadcasting should be your last option when it comes to beans IMO. I broadcasted a bean mix the past two years (Antler King) then ran over it with a homemade drag and have had little success. Either the soil contact has not been enough or there has been to heavy of browse to see any good results. Another factor may be the rate in which I spread the seed, I don't pay much attention to # per acre. Interested in others ideas...
It is a viable option, but true germination expectations and consistency in growth won't be as predictable as using a drill or planter.
If I had to choose one of those options it'd be lightly disking them in with a high seed rate. Close attention will have to be paid to how deep they're getting covered or that they are indeed getting covered. Beans can be touchy even with drills and planters, this stuff is all kind of like playing russian roulette with a paintball gun. Failure won't kill you, you'll probably recover but it'll sting like a some beach.
Yeah very true. In the end I am not gonna stop possibly seeking a planter to borrow for the day, but not banking on it either.
Worth it? All depends on expectations...and deer density. I know guys that 1/2 plots reach full maturity and put on beans....others things never get above 5 or 6 inches and rarely have pod production. I'll all together be somewhere between 1.5 and 3 acres depending how much more of the fallow growth we whack down...probably right now sitting at 1.5-1.75 acres that are in plots now or are just grass regenning from whacking.
ruteger...further I should elaborate, this next season will be the first year I do a dedicated soybean planting in late spring/early summer with plans of overseeding then later. I've mixed soybeans in plots for years, but only to encourage deer to brows their lush shoots and greens and allow rest to germinate and grow better.
I don't know anyone that has successfully planted soybeans by broadcasting on a consistent basis. I know locally there are a few places that rent equipment, I'd go that route. Otherwise I'd be looking at something like a one row planter for a few hundred bucks. There are quite a few on ebay now for $400-$600.
Here are my thoughts, We have broad casted beans and drug them in before, but like other have said you will want to up your population. We usually do 2x what is recommended with traditional methods. We have also broadcasted them in then tilled them under with careful depth control and a 2x seeding rate again. Either way you should get beans to grow, but spraying them when they are broadcasted in becomes more difficult unless you just drive over them. If you want to go down the road of buying your own planter, I suggest you forget about a one row planter especially for beans. Spend another couple hundred and get a 3-4 row. We have a 3 row and it works great with our JD 2305. If you can handle it, I would go 4. One row at 12" rows will take forever, and unless you have a GPS guidance system it will look like you broadcasted them anyway. Regarding the size of a plot, there are options for all size operations. with small size plots in high deer density areas, I would suggest and electric fence to kepp the deer out of the beans. a few hunderd dollars can get this project done and you ahve it for years to come. Or, plant the beans and if they get mowed down by early august, come back and overseed brassicas into them before a rain.
We hunt in the middle of nowhere midwest but still have multiple options for renting farm equipment. We ended up renting I believe an 8 row planter for $200 for the weekend. There was an additional $150 cleaning/damage deposit we got back when we returned it. I would recommend trying to find something for rent. If not, talk with other local farmers/hunters about what they are using. You might be able to borrow/rent/pay them to do it. If you are set on planting a couple acres of beans, it would be worth your time an money of doing it right.
Tyni, you can always run a cheap WTB ad in your local papers for a planter either a two or a four row. You should be able to find one that'll do what you need for $500. There's crap loads of them sitting abandoned in old barns all over the place. There are a few on tractorhouse in your surrounding states for 6-$900 but I know they can be found cheaper than that. I'd look for an old International 56 plate planter. JD would work okay as well. I wouldn't worry about dry fertilizer, those old fertilizer boxes all suck. I also agree, stay away from single row planters...too impractical.
We've got a 2 row JD planter that we built from an old 6 row a few years back that we use for sweet corn and replants and works great. All we use for research plots at work are 4 row planters. You can find/fabricate a 4 row pretty easily (at least in my area) that has markers. No need for any time of guidance system at this level what so ever. If nothing else, take a little time before hand and flag out both ends of your plot and drive. We've got hundreds of acres of research plots and just about all of them start with a 300' tape and some flags.
We did 12 acres of beans on our lease in OH this year using a rented drill. 5 acres were existing plots of oats, clover, turnips and 7 new acres of ground that hadn't been tilled in over 15 years. The deer devoured them, which is exactly what we wanted. We've went back in places that the beans were destroyed and planted oats and radishes and the deer are pounding them. It's amazing at the holding power it has had thus far. The lease is 509 acres, running 13 cameras, we currently have 13 bucks that are either 2.5 or 3.5 that are living on us. In 9 years we've killed 3 does on this property, this year alone we've killed 6 and really need to take 2 more. The only thing we have changed is the food.
I planted beans in a small plot this year an amazingly they came up pretty think. SO with that I would vote for option B. I cultivated the plot, disk it, broadcast the seed, dragged a old chain link fence door around it a few times then drove over it with the ATV several times. Walked around and most of the seeds seemed to be covered. Deer are mowing them now though.
I used Antler king and have had good results. Which mix did you plant? With beans the best mix is Red Zone. Slam Dunk has peas but those generally get nipped off before they have a chance to grow. I usually get twice as much seed as I need when broadcasting.
I planted the redzone mix, I'm thinking I didn't broadcast enough to get max growth Sent from my SM-N915V using Tapatalk
I have broadcasted beans on several occasions with great success. I use 4 1/2 50 lb bags of beans to about 3 acres. I put them in a pull behind spreader and then disk them in lightly after spreading. As long as there is rain I will have beans. I have made several failed attempts at planting them with about an 1.5 acres. The deer density in my area prevented the beans from growing. The other thing that factors in is when they are planted. As long as they are planted early, end of April beginning of May, the deer wont eat them as the deer have plenty of lush green growth in the woods to eat. This year it was amazing to see the growth with all the rain we had. I HAVE BEANS!
I have a 2 row planter that I use for corn, beans and sunflowers. No fert. boxes, I broadcast that before planting. All in all, I get the most bang for my buck with beans. My plot is about 2 1/2 acres. Sorry, no info on broadcasting beans.
