Soybean plot size

[RobbyW]

My brother farms in NW Arkansas every year he has a lot of soybean seed that he is not allowed to carry over to the next year. I have 3 spots for plots. One is 2 acre and is 1 and the other is about an 1/2 acre. The large field sits up past the land owners driveway. Did evolved mega plot and have turnips knee high. The deer might snack on the, but the are not tearing it up. Because the big field is closer to the road I am thinking of just going back to all clover. My question is would two bean plots total size of 1.2-2 acres be big enough? Would it be a waste even if the seed is free? These two plots are on top a ridge about 100 yards apart.

 

[jmb4wd]

Id but them in the ground, at a little heavier rate as they dont carry over as well as corn seed does, but its worth a shot I think.

I have noticed that my small beans plots that are closer to roadways and some type of traffic (homesite, farm road, etc.) seem to have alot of browse pressure, but it all takes place at night, and they survive and make pods and beans.

My other small bean plot that is away from as much vehicular traffic, and human contact get wiped out instantly.

Even if you have a so so stand of the beans, I would come in, late august or early sept, depending on moisture and overseed some type of winter annual, and or brassicas

 

[Hollar Hunter]

I tried to put out a 3 acre patch of beans this year and the deer never let them get bigger than about 10 inches. To plant beans you really need to plant a lot to survive the deer grazing.

 

[Hunter 257W]

Instead of a plot of pure beans, I prefer Pennington Seeds Spring/Summer deer mix that has vine beans/vine peas/sunflowers/sorghum. You get the same legume family plants as beans with a tremendous amount of feed that can take a lot of abuse from the deer before they eat it down. And it gives them cover too since it gets 6 ft tall. Whitetail Institute markets the same product as "Alfa Rack". I put out 3 acres in my woods plot this year and while the deer hit it hard, they were barely making gains on it(eating faster than it could grow) when the 1st frost came.