Food Plots Eagle Beans Fenced

[onside]

Finally got an electric fence up around my beans. Used a plotsaver for three years, but this year it was totally ineffective. So I bit the bullet and put up an e-fence. Never fenced in my life but I think it turned out okay.

The plotsaver ribbon remains to help with the visual.

Beans are browsed pretty heavy, but I think there are still enough left now that the browsing is eliminated. 6.6" of rain the last two days should help them take off.

 

[JCDEERMAN]

What is the cost or that electric fence? What's the power source?

 

[onside]

Cost not too bad as I already had the wire, post, and insulators. I had to purchase the turbo tape for the outer fence which was about $40. I also found a used battery powered Gallagher fencer for $90 on Ebay.

 

[ROUGH COUNTRY HUNTER]

nice plot

 

[Nhill]

What is the fence for? Keep cows out?

 

[BlountArrow]

What is the fence for? Keep cows out?

I'm guessing to give the beans a sporting chance before being completely demolished by deer browsing... unfortunately, not a problem we have here in Blount county.

 

[Boone 58]

 

[onside]

Absolutely right Blount. Beans get hammered here early without some protection by the deer. And that's after killing ten off this farm last season. Now that every piece of ground around is being row-cropped, it seems our whitetail population has exploded.

 

[tellico4x4]

I thought that soybeans were a "determinate" plant, and that growth stopped once the stems were broken off, ie. browsed. May very well be wrong, but that is what a farmer told me when we were considering planting them.

 

[onside]

That is somewhat true I believe. What I have noticed is that if the plant is browsed down to just bare stem with no foliage left then that plant is done. However, if a leaf or two is left these eagle beans will take off growing again.

 

[tellico4x4]

Good to know - thanks

 

[diamond hunter]

I got my 2 acre fence up this weekend. I used 2 strands of wire at 14" and 36" and an outer electric rope 4' away at 24"

 

[diamond hunter]

Id say I lost at least 100 plants in the week previously and thats with 100 acres of beans across the street. Justin did a great job of planting.

 

[BuckHunter511]

Good job man!

 

[landman]

are those 36" rows? I'd split the rows next year and plant at 18"
give you more beans and you'll get quicker ground shade to help with weeds and moisture IMO

 

[jmb4wd]

I thought that soybeans were a "determinate" plant, and that growth stopped once the stems were broken off, ie. browsed. May very well be wrong, but that is what a farmer told me when we were considering planting them.

thats where the Eagle beans shine in my opinion.

They are a Forage bean, meant to produce forage, and Ag soybean are meant for bean production.

The forage beans will develop another chute just below where the deer snip them off.

From my experience, the Ag bean will not recover if browsed below the bottom node.


Just a note on how resilient the Eagles are. I plantef almost 4 acres on Tn droptines place a few years back and deer kept them at 4 to 6 inches tall all summer and they still flowered and made beans.

 

[jmb4wd]

are those 36" rows? I'd split the rows next year and plant at 18"
give you more beans and you'll get quicker ground shade to help with weeds and moisture IMO

I agree. But if you are going to doing conventional tillage before planting, you might try broadcasting them and cultipacking or rolling with a atv or dragging a cedar over them.

I think you would get a better stand and be faster.

 

[onside]

Actually they are 40" rows. The two row planter is not mine so I have not adjusted it. I use the planter because I have always felt it held down my fertilizer cost as I can use the planter to place the fertilize right along the rows.
I have never had to spray more than once each year, so that's not a problem.
This was taken in August of 2010. These were planted on 42" rows and they filled in nicely.