Soybeans are easy to grow about anywhere and provide great nutrition for deer.

This week has been an important week for us here at GrowingDeer. It’s not only the last week of turkey season, but the Eagle Seed soybeans are going in the dirt! Planting season is here. With that comes an appreciation of the hard work put in months ago.

Last August we planted many of our food plots in the Broadside blend. This is a fall mixture of soybeans, wheat, turnips, and radishes. This variety helped feed the wildlife throughout the winter. The Broadside has now been terminated in preparation for the new soybeans. Even though the Broadside is no longer living that doesn’t mean it does not serve a purpose.

As we are drilling the new soybeans into the Broadside blend it is laying down on top of the soil. This is all part of the plan! With the vegetation covering the soil, critical soil moisture is conserved. The long range forecast of rain is nearly impossible to predict. Rain could be a few days or weeks away. It’s important to take steps to conserve soil moisture. In addition, the vegetation is shading the ground. This helps to fend off weed growth or competition with the newly planted soybeans. Since the Broadside blend has been terminated it will slowly begin to breakdown. As it does this, nutrients will leach back into the soil. When this happens those nutrients are readily available for the new soybeans to uptake and benefit from.

Simply planting a fall blend in your food plots and following this strategy can increase productivity in your next crop. The better the soil the better food plots will grow. When food plots are more productive the quality of the local deer herd will increase. Deer management should start at “ground level”.

Managing deer together,

Matt