I have two 1/4 size food plots I am going to plant this year. I planted brassicas a little late last year and they came up, but didn't get any size at the root. The deer never touched the plant above ground. So I was thinking about planting soybeans this year on one plot and brassicas on the other. Or should I do all soybeans? Either way, I need to know when is the best time to plant soybeans and when is that best time to plant brassicas? Thanks in advance for your input!
I think it kind of depends on your deer density. That might be a little small for trying soybeans if they get a lot of grazing pressure. They do make a forage soybean also that produces more tonnage but less beans. I think you might have better luck in a small plot with brassicas and get them in early enough that they can grow to full potential. Don't skimp on fertilizer. Brassicas seem to put up with grazing pressure pretty well and will also produce food into the late season in the form of the tubers or roots. In my area, I will not put in soybeans unless I have at least a couple of acres. We plant out soybeans in May or June and the brassicas in July or August. Not sure how that compares to where you are though. Sometimes I will plant soybeans early to attract and hold deer and then tear them up in August and plant the brassicas if they have been grazed hard or did not get a good stand due to drought, etc.
Thanks man for your input. This is ALL new to me. We can bait/feed deer here and I wanted to try something other than that.
Not sure on when to plant them but im sure someone on here will. Id go with your thought on planting both this year to see what they like better and then go from there the year after.
If you go with the beans, fence them in if you can. Open one plot a week before season and open the other a week before the rut or your vacation or whatever. As for when to plant them, I have no idea when is a good idea in your area, but local feed mills should have better info for you!
For me, it's soybean any day of the week over brassicas. BUT, my plot is 3.5 acres with a medium to high deer density. The pressure is low during the early season due to the abundance of crops in the area. For you, forage soybeans could be a good option. They produce a ton of green foliage. That is, until the first frost, then they will begin to dry down and be basically worthless to you. They produce way fewer pods than ag soybeans, and the deer will likely pick you clean very early. Ag beans will give you lots of green foliage early, then they will have an early dry down phase, lose their leaves and the deer will come back an eat the pods. Problem is, 1/4 acre just isn't very big of an area, and the deer will likely deplete the plot very quickly. I'm not real familiar with what will grow well in NC, or what the deer prefer in that area. If you can come up with a bigger plot, soybeans will work anywhere.
Do 1/2 and 1/2?? Soybeans are the best early season food here in MN... Corn usually in the late season. Have no experience with brassicas. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I'm from NC, just south of you, Zebulon. For us in this part of the country is soybeans. Our winters do not get cold enough for the tubers to get sweet enough (although this winter is making me think twice). My understanding on brassicas tubers is it needs a lot of cold temperatures to release the sugars, causing them to be come sweet to taste for deer. I also heard tho (maybe playing into your favor for brassicas) it takes a couple years for deer to acquire a taste for it. I'm in your boat too....this year i'm putting in a couple food plots, about 1/4 acre as well. I really wanted to put brassicas in for variety. But now opted for a different winter plant. I'm going to try winter peas instead. I heard good things from a gentlemen I worked with. Good luck!
Dwayne I have seen your pictures and you always have a ton of deer. Even if you did both 1/4 acre plots the deer will eat the beans before they have a chance. You would need close to 2 acres of beans to stand up to all of the grazing.
Plant what the ag fields near you don't have. I have 140 acres of corn/beans so my 12 acres of plots get free beans from the NWTF on 5/15 right after I bail my winter rye as well as 2,000 pumpkins. The beans never get above ankles due to overbrowse. I then plant my mix of winter rye/ptt/ggt/fhr/rape on 8/1. bail on 5/15 and repeat.
I'd Plant milo and just as it nears maturity or matures, go in and broadcast some winter wheat, winter rye and crimson clover directly through it and just leave it all standing. Try to do the broadcast just before a rain around mid Oct. Milo should be planted at 60F soil temp...maybe around April 20th (?) in your area...just a guess. The small seeded plants do pretty well broadcast and not worked in, double the normal seed rate though.
Unless you have an acre plot or better the beans are gonna get mowed unless you have some way to fence them in. But I have had some success with Evolved Harvest Maximize. It has soybean, peas, sorghum and sunflowers. The sorghum and sunflowers protect the beans a little. This is best planted in May upto July when there is a good chance of rain shortly after. I then do a second plot in August/September of a mixture of Winter Peas and oat. The deer decimated the winter peas but the oats kept them coming back all season long. Be sure to get a soil sample. Biologic has a good turnaround and is pretty cheap around 7.50. All you do id drop a soil sample in a sandwich bag and mail it. Be sure to use plastic tools when getting the sample. Good luck and planting something never hurts. You cant go wrong with beans and peas but plant something else with them that will survive.
If you're not sure if the deer will mow it down or not, you could try planting the soybeans and if they do just broadcast brassicas (and/or clover) into them before a good rain in August. I think I'm going to try that this year.
As most have said, 1/4 to 1/2 acre of soy's is just too small. Brassica blends could work, depending on deer density. Around here, the deer do not wait until the first frost to eat the turnip tops. They are usually gone by mid September. Try planting winter rye or oats with a the brassicas. Winter rye recovers fast from browsing and will keep deer feed until spring. You can also add some winter peas to the mix to add a little deer candy Here is a brassica/winter rye/ winter pea mix that we planted last fall that did very well.
I've had a lot of late season activity in my brassica field and the deer consistently come back to it.
Along with what several others have said, I believe the deer would tear up bean plots of that size unless you take the time to fence them off using the method shown on: Watch Deer Hunting Videos. Free. GrowingDeer.tv by using an electric fence. Many times over the years I have heard people say that with brassicas the first year sometimes the deer do not use them very much unless someone in the area has planted them before. That has been the case for us down in Ohio. The first year we planted them they weren't used much at all, until real late winter. This past year we still put some in and they went to it much better and devoured the plots, digging up the bulbs even in early November. Another thought, you could do some sort of forage oats and once that's in the ground (it should be planted a little deeper) go lightly over it with a brassica blend (which can be just on top)
What type of fertilizer, would 10-10-10 suffice? I am unsure of the levels needed to be added to brassicas in terms of nitrogen(N)-phosphate(P2O5)-potash(K2O). This is a great thread, as I am curious with all of this and want to start planting some nice little kill plots as well.
