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Thoughts On What To Plant

MO-APE

MO-APE

Member
I recently had a new 2 acre field cleaned and disced up. I will be limited with only ATV implements (ATV disc, cultipacker & sprayer) from now on and want to keep this field in shape to plant the Dbltree brassica/cereal mix later in the summer. I'm also not opposed to making it a permanent white clover plot (will have 5 other acres of Dbltree mix) if you think I could get away with it this late in the year.

Any ideas? Here are a few of my thoughts:

1) Plant RR beans knowing they would be hammered by the herd until July. I can get 2nd year beans for little or no cost. I can keep the weeds and grass sprayed then plant DblTree mix in July & late August

2) Plant a permanent white clover plot with some type of cover crop...would probably avoid rye as it would get too tall and again I can't get a mower back there.

3) Just keep it sprayed until July.

Thanks in advance!
 
If it was me this is what I would do. Put the whole thing in beans then do half of it in the brassica mix mid-late July and half in the doubletree cereal grain mix with clover in the beginning of Sept. Or better yet do the 1/3 rotation Paul prescribed and just keep rotating 1/3's annually. Remember if you go the clover route you're going to need a way to mow it.
 
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I just planted about 3 acres of buckwheat Saturday with the idea that those acres will be plowed down in early August for brassicas. After hearing and reading about it, this is the first time I have actually made it to the planting stage with buckwheat, so I am curious to see how it does myself.

I am also doing similar to your #1 below, in that I am planting beans in a couple of spots knowing that I will need to replant something later this summer. So I guess I am saying that I would go with beans or buckwheat. :D
 
Agree on the beans. Perfect setup for the first time food plot. You can spray RR and then do anything you want into existing beans this fall, or bean stubble next spring.
 
I always go beans first year in a food plot. That way you can spray and if the beans do well you can leave them or replant something in late august or Sept such as winter rye. I would also consider planting a perennial mix in there somewhere so that way you have an early spring food source that is green to feed the deer all year round. In places where I put beans for the first time they did well because the deer weren't used to the beans being there. The second year they hammered them.
 
So far, so good as far as deer pressure on the new bean plot. The crazy amounts of rain we are seeing isn't hurting growth either. The neighbors are ripping out a significant amount of timber with a track hoe, so I imagine every deer in the section is pushed out. This plot is in a hard to reach area so it will stand in beans (whatever can make it) until late July when I will replant with the Dbltree Mix using ATV equipment.

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that looks pretty good. My beans get hammered and never get more than a foot tall. I have had my best luck with Eagle Forage beans but they are $90 a bag. If they hammer the beans just replant to winter rye in late august/sept or brassicas in late July. If they don't hammer the beans then you can leave them in and you could turn some of the plot into a clover or perennial mix if you can get a mower in there to take care of it.
 
Looks great. Beans are a great thing to cycle through every couple years on the rotation. Great choice & looks good. That'll give you a clean slate for later & fixing some N along the way. Looks good no matter how they turn out, they'll serve the purpose. Keep on the updates.
 
Beans still chugging along, almost hate to till them in next month. I'm absolutely shocked the herd hasn't wiped them out. It has to be the track hoe running 500 yards away.

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What do you guys think I should do? Keep the bean plot going or till them in for the DblTree mix? I had planned to use these RR beans as a way to keep out weeds before starting the DblTree mix (was assuming they would be decimated by now) . The area is about two acres in size and not experiencing heavy browse pressure. I have enough acreage in other areas already going in to the DblTree mix.

I just sprayed them and grabbed this pic this past weekend. Even though they are doing really well now, I don't think it would take long for them to get wiped out once they get started on them...I could always add the cereal component in early September if they do get blasted. First time with beans so not sure what to think.

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Oh wow...I would leave the beans if it were me. That is an incredible 1st year bean plot. I am trying to get mine fenced this year so I can have some beans to hunt over in December. When conditions are right, they will hammer the beans during late muzzy. But I am still kind of a green horn with plots compared to most of these guys.
 
They look good, I would keep them and if anything, spread seed into the beans...brassicas?
 
I would leave them and hope for real nasty cold weather late season. If they are anything like the deer around here they will come to the beans big time when it gets nasty & they need the calories that the mature beans provide.
 
Those look good.... what I would do is broadcast winter rye 100lbs/acre into them around Sept 1st when the beans start to yellow. This winter you will have green n grain... then next summer just nuke the rye and use it for soil tilth
 
eiowaarcher said:
Can you broadcast winter rye into standing corn?
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Depends on shade. If it's green and shaded- beans and corn- no way. Wasting seed. If either is opening up canopy- spread away. Another method - say it isn't ur ground- could spray areas that got pounded by animals or competed with trees & didn't turn out well but full of weeds since opened up- spray with roundup and broadcast. My own corn & beans, I just disc the crappy stuff in with fertilizer added as well and plant a rye mix (clovers, peas, etc). As long as atrazine wasn't over applied and canopy allows- u can get stuff to grow. Seed heavy if broadcast on top and realize it ain't the easiest to physically run a broadcaster through a standing corn field. Stalks are gonna stop a lot of seed so u gonna have to make short passes and lots of em. If u could, say rye alone, I'd try for 150 lbs to the acre if it were me, imo and if conditions allowed.
 
They look too good to turn under...I agree on the overseed above. If Ifyou're really itching, experiment...leave half, convert the other half. They look great. You got them in about the same time I got mine in, but yours look like they're 3 weeks ahead. You're doing something right
 
What did you do as far as prep for the beans? Did you fertilize much before hand?

The boys with Lethal Land Management drilled them for us on June 2 and I did nothing for fertilizer. I am getting ready to throw in about 50# of 13-13-13 on 1 1/4 acres of beans. I sprayed them right about emergence and just hit them again on July 4.

I planted into an old cattle pasture.
 
madplotter said:
What did you do as far as prep for the beans? Did you fertilize much before hand?
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Not sure if the question was directed towards me, but I didn't fertilize the plot or inoculate the beans. I did add a significant amount of lime before broadcasting the beans this Spring. The beans, however, are following a well fertilized DblTree mix planted in September. I think they could use a good top dressing of 13–13–13. This plot is only one year old and this time last year it was mature timber, which I imagine has a lot to do with me not having to fight a crazy amount of weeds.
 
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