SOYBEAN FOOD PLOT...HOW TO MAKE THEM MATURE EARLY, FOR INTERSEEDING BRASSICAS, CEREAL GRAINS, CLOVER

In this video I discuss raising soybean food plots for whitetail deer hunting. Soybeans are a staple among land managers, and food plotters, known for their pulling power and high protein, they are a great benefit to the deer herd. Many times you will find big whitetail bucks feeding in a lush green soybean field all summer and early fall, but once the soybeans turn yellow, the deer quit using the field. I show you in the video, how to use soybean maturity to get soybeans to produce all the way up until a frost or to mature early where we have the 75-90 days needed to get brassicas, cereal grains, and annual clovers interseeded into standing soybeans.

[@Bow-Man]

Great video 👍👍

[@DIYfoodplotpro]

Thanks bow man! I hope your doing well, and thank you for watching and commenting

[@carrollsanders9376]

Great Video I am planning on a late Maturing forage Soybean with Sun Hemp, and using Buterac to control the weeds. sun hemp will add structure for the beans to climb on so I don’t have to worry about standabillity.

[@DIYfoodplotpro]

Caroll that sounds like a great plan! Glad you enjoyed the video! I really appreciate you watching and commenting!

[@carrollsanders9376]

@@DIYfoodplotpro I appreciate your videos Wess, right now I have to run down and buy some Zap it Roach Killer, it's pure boric Acid and cheaper than buying the Boric acid spray from the Fertilizer supplier. Need to add a small amount of Boric acid to some Alfalfa. About .4 pounds to the acre, that means one bottle of Zapit Roach Killer does about 2 acres.

[@joelb7668]

Apple trees also need supplemental boron every 3 years unless your soil has an unusually high amount of it which I imagine rare

[@DIYfoodplotpro]

many plants require boron and like you said most places there is not enough in the soil. I regularly add boron to alfalfa food plots as well! Thanks for sharing that tip!

[@ryanweaver3615]

Great video! Down here in South Texas I’ve been using the Eagle Seed Gamekeeper mix and have had great results. Think they are a #7-#8 soybean that stays green from April-November. Drought Tolerance is pretty remarkable also

[@DIYfoodplotpro]

Ryan, that sounds like you are planting exactly what you need to be in your area! Glad you enjoyed the video! I really appreciate you watching!

[@nathanlester5054]

Fantastic information Wes! One question that I have for you is this; when you are interseeding brassicas, clovers, cereal ryes , wheats, etc., do you broadcast (top sow) or drill these mixtures into the existing soybeans?

[@DIYfoodplotpro]

Nathan, I’d definitely broadcast over the top. If you had to run a drill or a tillage pass through it you would knock all the soybeans down and then they are likely to rot. Just broadcast them into a weed and grass free soybeans, with a good chance of rain in the forecast. Thanks for watching and commenting

[@midwesternoutdoorsandnatur8272]

Great Info Wes! Finding any sheds?

[@DIYfoodplotpro]

Not yet, me and the kids actually went out on Saturday and looked for a little while, no sheds but we did see 2 bucks. Small buck still had both sides, and the better buck only had 1. Thanks for watching and commenting

[@hsing4903]

@Diyfoodplotpro Hey Wes I hope you are feeling better and able to get out and get these spring plots in. QUESTION? How many forage soybean seeds for broadcast planting 1 acre? 140,000 seeds? I am planting a couple acres.

[@DIYfoodplotpro]

Thanks so much for the well wishes, I’m doing much better. Yes traditional planted soybeans are 130,000-180,000 seeds per acre. I would want to go on the higher side for a food plot and also make sure you 100% protect it for 7-10 days after emerging. They can and will be grazed off dead if the first trifoliate doesn’t get a chance to come out. Good luck with the plot!

[@hsing4903]

@Diyfoodplotpro Glad to hear it! And I saw lastnight in another soybean video of yours you said seed 6 to 7 times the amount per acre. So I got 6 times the amount of Eagle soybeans. Half in Gamekeeper forage beans 4.9 for my WV zone. And I experimented with the other half in Eagle Ag beans. Off to the co-op this weekend for bunch of fertilizer per soil test. Yes sir the ball is rolling! Thanks for your videos! 👍 👍

[@DIYfoodplotpro]

Good deal! Sounds like you are going to have some solid food plots! Good luck!

[@WesternNyBigfoot]

Trying eagle seed green and gold

[@DIYfoodplotpro]

Good luck!

[@joelb7668]

What can you tell us about forage soybeans that don’t produce pods vs traditional beans? I’ve heard that they grow back better after being browsed and stay green longer

[@DIYfoodplotpro]

I planted some of them last year but want to do them on a larger scale this upcoming year. I didn’t see a significant difference in ag beans vs forage beans relating to how fast they were growing back from being browsed on. Thanks for watching and commenting

[@rfb7117]

Wes what exactly does the number of the bean relate to months to maturity? thanks, Bob

[@DIYfoodplotpro]

Bob there isn’t a direct correlation between the numbers and months to maturity. Just a low number for example 1.0 is meant to be grown very far north where the growing season is short, on the other side a higher number like a 4.8 would grow well in KY because of the much longer growing season. I hope I explained that where that makes sense. Thanks for watching and commenting!

[@royguidry1311]

So from what i gathered from this it seems that the higher number is a longer maturity date!?! Also if a person was going to fence in their beans for maximum plant size and not worried about summer forage would you recomend a determinate or indeterminate bean? This would be on my lower Central NY property? Thanks for the info Wes.

[@DIYfoodplotpro]

Yes the higher the number the longer the maturity time. In your area I would go with an indeterminate, I want beans making all year. With determinate beans if you don’t get the rain at the end you’re not going to make much. With indeterminate your spreading that drought risk out over the entire growing season. Thanks for watching and commenting!

[@clarkwheeler8764]

Ok Professor--How quickly are you talking about planting soybeans? Late April early May--or-early/mid/late June? Looks like just about any bean planted late would stay green til frost. Also I've seen some videos that plant beans in their fall mix just to have young tender beans.

[@DIYfoodplotpro]

Plant date does affect them some but not as much as you would think. For deer hunting soybeans, I never try to plant first in the spring, I usually shoot for mid May. I want warm soil and warm air temps where beans can grow as fast as possible. Yes that’s a great idea, especially if you live in an area where the frost is typically later. I actually recommended this same thing to a client last week, he plants fall mix in September, but average frost isn’t until December typically, young tender soybeans are a great addition in that case! Thanks for watching and commenting!