Should I harvest the soybeans from my food plot?
Filed under: Food Plots
I am wanting to plant soybeans this next spring for a food plot. I have never planted them before and I am having a hard time trying to find out when to harvest them… Do I keep them for the deer until December? Do I cut them in Sept/Oct. and plant a winter crop? When I do cut them can I just use a bush hog to cut them? I am new at creating food plots; I just made my 1st one last year with clover and have had great success with pictures and my herd looks very healthy. I want to be able to have that protein “free feed so to say” on soybean plot, and get some antlers growing on my land 🙂
Thanks again,
Joey
P.S. Tell Daniel I said hi, use to work with him at CofO at the butcher shop.
Joey,
Most food plots are too small or too difficult to reach with a combine to harvest. In addition, the soybean pods are great deer and turkey food!
I simply broadcast a blend of cool season forages into the standing soybeans. This creates a wonderful food source and wildlife attractant!
Deer, turkey, and other critters will consume the soybeans pods during the cooler temperatures and the forage crop during the warmer days. In addition, by keeping a crop growing throughout the year the plants will mine or recycle soil nutrients before they leach too deep for new plants to reach them. I’ve used this rotation for years with great success at attracting deer and improving the quality of soil in the plots.
I plant Eagle Seed’s Broadside fall blend in standing beans about 45-60 days before the first average frost date. That means I plant during mid August and anticipate a frost during mid October.
I’ll tell Daniel you said “Hello!”
Enjoy creation
grant
