James,

If Iron Clay peas grew in your plot, forage soybeans should grow well also. However, if the peas were well fertilized and the local herd still destroyed the crop, it sounds as if you need to either expand the size of your plot, reduce the number of deer consuming forage from the plot, or a combination of both. The forage soybeans I referenced this morning (www.EagleSeed.com) during the radio interview have the best ability to regrow after being browsed of any pea or bean varieties I’ve monitored. I’ve even mowed a stand of this cultivar to prepare for planting winter wheat and a week later the bean stalks had grown leaves again!

However, these plants had an established root system. If your peas were consumed as soon as they germinated, then the forage soybeans probably won’t make it to maturity unless more acres are planted. One additional step you can use in areas with a high deer density relative to available quality forage is to plant more seeds per acre. For example, I commonly plant 100+ pounds of beans per acre in areas with such characteristics. This provides more young plants per acre. Many of these young plants will be removed by browsing, leaving an appropriate number to mature. This technique requires site-specific trial and error to learn how many pounds per acre to plant to achieve your objective.

Forage soybeans are a great food plot crop! However, they are not a magic bean and can be over browsed in some situations.

Growing Deer together,

Grant