When Will Eagle Beans Make Pods in Illinois?
Filed under: Ask Grant, Food Plots
I planted about 10 acres of Long Fellow Eagle Seed forage beans this year in our foods plots. My farm is about 500 acres and last year our beans were browsed so heavily that we ran out of food by December. I love hunting beans late season. We have gotten lots of rain this year and the beans look amazing! They are huge and it’s hard to even see much browse pressure because of all the foliage. I am beginning to worry though because it is the middle of August and I still don’t have any pods growing. I live in central Illinois and being a category 7 bean I am just scared that we might not get any pods before the first frost. Although the forage and late green is great, I really need the beans more than anything to get all of our deer through the winter. Will we get beans in time? They have started to flower but daylight is getting shorter. Just wondering what you saw in the past and what you do at The Proving Grounds? Justin
Justin,
The planting date is a factor. That is to say that soybeans planted earlier will flower earlier. If the Eagle Seed forage soybeans you planted are flowering now, then they are most likely making small pods lower on the plant. I think you will be fine given the soybeans have flowers and there is a month and a half before the first average frost date in your area (sometime around October 1st).
Given the latitude where you plant you might consider using the Wildlife Managers Mix next year. This blend has group 4.3, 5.5, 7, and 8 soybeans. Soybeans are odd in that if the same variety is planted May 1 and June 1, there may only be one week difference in maturity. However, there are still advantages in planting early. I plant when the soil temperature is 62 degrees at 9 AM. This is about the coolest time of the day for soil temperatures. At this temperature, soybeans usually germinate and grow rapidly if there is an appropriate amount of soil moisture.
Growing Deer together,
Grant
