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Soy Beans

Monster Raxx

Junior Member
716
0
Minnesota
I am not sure exactly how this would work for you guys in Ohio but I thought I would let you know what I have been doing to help a few people with here in Minnesota to see if it could help you out as well.

Farmers use a Zone 2 soybean here in Minnesota and a few people I know were using forage beans for their food plots and loved the tonnage they were getting but did not like the lack of pod production. We got a number of them Zone 3 beans and they got the best of both worlds. It wasnt quite the tonnage of a true forage bean but it was more than the Zone 2 and it still had almost the same pod production.

Typically here in Minnesota the deer are pounding the beans until they start to turn...the bad part is that happens right as bow season starts. The Zone 3 beans mature later giving you a window to try and harvest your deer during early season and it also gives you the only green leaves FOR MILES!

Here is what I am not exactly sure how it would work because Ohio would use a Zone 3 bean so you would have to get a Zone 4 bean to try this but the good part is getting this type of bean compared to a forage bean is probably almost half the cost.

Another option for those who really like using forage beans is to plant the outside portion of your food plot with a forage bean so you can bow hunt the edges and plant the middle with a traditional bean so you have a late season plot for shotgun and muzzleloader.
 

Ohiosam

*Supporting Member*
11,708
191
Mahoning Co.
Many parts of Ohio soybeans are double cropped after wheat. You probably don't see that in MN. If double cropped beans are close by I'm not sure it would work as well.
 
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MK111

"Happy Hunting Grounds in the Sky"
Supporting Member
6,551
66
SW Ohio
I might try some down here in SW Ohio as I don't see any double cropping of beans here. I did see alot in NW Ohio.
Frank
 

Redhunter1012

Senior Member
Supporting Member
As wet as it was around here last fall, there is very little wheat planted. Which in turn means no double cropped beans and alot more corn. I've taken 2 very nice mature bucks during first 2 days of Bow season and both were over green Soybean fields
 
I don't have a clue when it comes to planting beans so any advice you can give it's much appreciated! Have you heard of the Eagle Seed forage and crop soybeans? That Grant Woods on the growingdeer.tv website swears by them and the pics they had last fall showed how late in the season they stayed green. Not sure what zone they were though for the area he planted.
 

Ohiosam

*Supporting Member*
11,708
191
Mahoning Co.
I believe the Eagle beans are an indeterminate type of beans. You might check with a local seed dealer about availability of an indeterminate variety, might save some money.

Two stem types — indeterminate and
determinate — of soybean are grown in the United States. Growth of both types is similar during the vegetative growth phase, and at the time of flowering (R1), plants have less than 50 percent of the total
leaf area they will eventually amass. Once flower initiation occurs, indeterminate and determinate plants differ dramatically in stem growth habit. Indeterminate plants continue to develop leaves on the main stem and branches throughout the flowering period, which can last as long as 40 days. In contrast, determinate plants cease growth on the main stem at R1, but leaves continue to develop on branches (which will hold most of the yield) until the beginning seed (R5) growth stage.
 

Monster Raxx

Junior Member
716
0
Minnesota
I have heard good things about Eagle beans except for the low pod production. They are very expensive so that is why some of the people I know tried something different. I have watched Growing Deer TV and it is an ok show but Eagle seeds is a sponsor of there's and I have never seen a show that says bad things about there sponsors...well until they arent getting paid from them anymore.