My spring/summer food plot

[Eastky Bowhunter]

I planted some of Eagle Seeds Big Fellow RR Forge Soybeans. I got them in the ground on May 2nd. There doing well so far.

Before
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j239/eastky_bowhunter/2008/2008%20food%20plot/May2008015.jpg

After planting
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j239/eastky_bowhunter/2008/2008%20food%20plot/May2008021.jpg

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j239/eastky_bowhunter/2008/2008%20food%20plot/May2008026.jpg

Shots from tree stands
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j239/eastky_bowhunter/2008/2008%20food%20plot/May2008028.jpg

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j239/eastky_bowhunter/2008/2008%20food%20plot/May2008033.jpg

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j239/eastky_bowhunter/2008/2008%20food%20plot/May2008034.jpg

[Eastky Bowhunter]

Pics from May 27th
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j239/eastky_bowhunter/May2008041.jpg

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j239/eastky_bowhunter/May2008040.jpg

I'll post some more updated pics around July 1st.

[cnc]

good looking country & plot, I bet your hard work will pay off.

[Al]

Please do post pics later of the forage beans. Looks like you got good germination I planted regular soy beans the same time, and it as cool as it was mine took a long time to all come up.
Did you fertilize?

[Swarm]

I planted this plot with Sweet Spot 1 month ago. It got plenty of rain the first 2 weeks so extablishment was good. It's at the bottom of a 100 acre field of corn and across the fence is another 140 acres of beans. Needless to say, the deer are leaving my plot alone to get established and are hammering the crops much to the farmer's chagrin.

7521

7523

Swarm

[EKY.MTN.HUNTER]

lookin real good swarm.

[Eastky Bowhunter]

The deer are hitting the beans hard. I hope they can keep up. I sprayed them with roundup Tuesday. That should keep them out until the rain washed off the roundup. So maybe that will give them a chance.

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j239/eastky_bowhunter/2008/June2008100.jpg

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j239/eastky_bowhunter/2008/June2008097.jpg

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j239/eastky_bowhunter/2008/June2008066.jpg

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j239/eastky_bowhunter/2008/June2008028.jpg

[Soybean Man]

This is exciting watching the progress. You had a heck of a ragweed population. What kind of rain have you been getting? We are back to being too dry to plant again. What is your total size of these plots? You should be seeing a new set of trifoliate leaves every 3 days.

[Soybean Man]

I failed to mention that we are testing a few products to help with smaller plot sizes and soybeans. One product is called Browse-Ban, but it has to be applied every 7 days. I think it is much more enjoyable to watch them actually use a summer food plot from planting through maturity, not just a particular time of the season. Very beneficial to a deer's nutritional requirements.

[Eastky Bowhunter]

This is exciting watching the progress. You had a heck of a ragweed population. What kind of rain have you been getting? We are back to being too dry to plant again. What is your total size of these plots? You should be seeing a new set of trifoliate leaves every 3 days.

The plot was planted May 2nd. I think since then we have had a total of 8" of rain. Over the last few weeks the rain has been hit and miss. It seems like it rain every other day but only for 30 mins or less and we get less than 1/10".

I sprayed with roundup last Tuesday. So the rag weed should be gone by next week. We seem to have a problem with it every other year. Last year it was more Johnson grass and some other type of weed. I am not sure what its called.

I am not sure on the plot size. I would guess a little under 1 acre. Or maybe close to 3/4 acre.

2006 was the first year I planted soybeans. I only did the lower field. Soybeans are not grown in our area. The closest soybean crop field in at least 50 miles away or further. Heres a picture of the the plot in 2006 using a late maturing RR verity I got from another seed co. These done well but the deer were not sure what they were at first and let them grow. Heres a picture from the plot in early Sept 2006.

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j239/eastky_bowhunter/2006/foodplot/Picture330.jpg

[Dead Deer Walking]

I planted Eagle Seeds Game Keeper Forage soybeans. My plot is around the same size as EKBH's. Mine are around waist high right now since my deer are letting them grow. I'll post some pics later.

[Eastky Bowhunter]

I went over after work this morning and spot sprayed the areas I missed last time. And I finally got around to getting some good pics to show the progress.

Upper end under one of my stands.
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j239/eastky_bowhunter/2008/2008%20food%20plot/June2008003.jpg

Signs of use by the deer.
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j239/eastky_bowhunter/2008/2008%20food%20plot/June2008002.jpg

Midway
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j239/eastky_bowhunter/2008/2008%20food%20plot/June2008004.jpg

Check out the size of the leaves.
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j239/eastky_bowhunter/2008/2008%20food%20plot/June2008007.jpg

Lower end looking up the hollow.
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j239/eastky_bowhunter/2008/2008%20food%20plot/June2008014.jpg

[Dead Deer Walking]

Man, they have been hitting them hard !

[Soybean Man]

How do you like that leaf size? That is what really helps early on keeping them growing. Also, we can get about 33 nodes on a plant compared to 20-22 on standard soybean. This is more places for leaves and will keep growing longer into the season. We just got some data back from Oklahoma on a 4.9 pH sandy soil where we won first and second place at 90 days after planting with only 2 inches of rain. We had 1,000 pounds more forage than standard soybean and iron and clay cowpea. It was tested by the Noble Foundation.

[Soybean Man]

FYI,
Next years QDMA national convention is coming to Louisville, KY. We just had a booth at Chattanooga, TN this past weekend. Great turnout and met a few celebrities.

[Eastky Bowhunter]

Thanks for the info Brad.

I am real impressed with the leaf size. I wish I had put out a cage or 2 to get a good idea on usage and real growth.

[Eastky Bowhunter]

Here is some more updated pics. I mowed the area I plan on planting a mix of WW, Oats and Winter Peas later this month. I am really impressed with these Forage Soybeans from eagle seed. They are anywhere from waist to chest high. They are also starting to bloom. I am gonna top sow WW over top of the beans once the leaves start to yellow and fall off. Heres various pictures of the plot.

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j239/eastky_bowhunter/2008/2008%20food%20plot/Aug2008004.jpg

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j239/eastky_bowhunter/2008/2008%20food%20plot/Aug2008006.jpg

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j239/eastky_bowhunter/2008/2008%20food%20plot/Aug2008019.jpg

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j239/eastky_bowhunter/2008/2008%20food%20plot/Aug2008018.jpg