Soybean Comparison--Eagle Forage Beans vs. Dyna Gro Group 7

     This past spring I decided to try an comparison on a small plot behind my home.  I wanted to see if there was an Ag soybeans that would hold a candle to the amazing growth of Eagle Forage Soybeans. 

The Eagles are known for producing  tons of forage for deer to browse on in the spring and summer months, sometimes reaching 5, 6 or even 7 feet tall!!  They are Roundup Ready and very, very drought tolerant as I found out this summer.

The other bean I chose was a product of the Dyna Gro seed company and is a group 7 Ag bean.   What that means is that the plants job is to produce seed pods and beans for harvesting.

I no tilled these beans in on May 1st, and they received 1 inch of rain the following weekend.  Needless to say they got a great jump, but that was it for a long, long while!   The beans didn't get anymore rain until July 4th when we had a good thunderstorm that dumped one more inch of rain.

 Here are some pictures of the beans in August.

Dyna Gro's

Eagles Forage Beans

     While I suspected that the Eagle would get taller and produce larger leaves, the Dyna Gros hung in there and while shorter, they still make a lot of leaves.

Since the DG group 7's are in an earlier producing class, they did flower and begin putting on pods about 4 weeks earlier  than the Eagles. 

Here some pictures of the beans once they dried down and lost their  leaves

Dyna's on left and Eagles on right

Here are some individual plants that I pulled so you can see how many pods the two produced.

Dyna's

Eagles

Side by side---Eagles on left and Dyna gro Group 7 on right

Conclusion----Just what I had expected, the Dyna Gro's produced many more seed pods and beans and the Eagles produced much taller, leafier plants, as they are designed to do.

One side note on the two beans, the Eagles are forage type as I mentioned above.  If you live in a areas with a high deer density, and they are browsed very low to the ground, they will continue to grown and put on new stems and leaves.  

The Dyna Gro's on the other hand are bred for seed production.   If they get up 6 to 8 inches high and a deer comes in and snips the plant off a few inches from the ground, it is done. It will not grow anymore or produce any forage or beans. 

I guess the best of both worlds would be to plant a mix of these two varieties to achieve the best of both worlds!   Thanks for following along with my little experiment!!!

Chester Co. Corn Update---November

Got to visit some plots I had planted in Chester co. over the Thanksgiving holiday.  To have been a extremely dry summer, the corn looked better than I had expected it to.   The ears were good sized and most stalks had 2 ears per plant, which was rare this year.

Also took a few shots of the WI Clover-Chicory Mix that we planted last fall!  It looked great, even though the deer had been hammering it to the ground!!   Even saw were some of the oats had reseeded that we mixed in with it. 

Good Luck Everyone!!

Just wanted to take a moment to wish all the hunters heading to the stand in the morning good luck!

    It was a great year for me, I got to meet tons of great guys and work on some very cool leases and farms.  Never would I have thought that I could have a job that combines so many of my hobbies into something that I get paid to do. 

   A simply thank you isn't enough,  but I hope that I've helped you grow and maintain productive food plots, that in turn will provide you and your family and friends with some quality time together, whether it be in a tree stand or around the table enjoying a meal together that was harvested on your place.

    Hope you and yours have a wonder holiday season, and be sure to thank GOD for all things, because without him,  none of it would be possible!

Justin

   

Big Kentucky Job!!!

Lewisberg, KY---  I don't mind telling you that this job worked me over!!!  It was my biggest job to date and probably bigger than all my other ones put together!!  It all started back in early August when I was invited up to Lewisberg, Ky to visit the lease of a group of guys from the Nashville area.   Don't let  anyone fool you, this area is home to some giant deer, which goes hand in hand with the habitat and the food sources in the area. 

The lease consist of 1600 acres, 800 of which was put into shallow water inpoundments and converted back to native wetlands and prairie.  The other 800 acres are nice mature hardwood ridges and hollows which makes for an awesome all around package!!! 

We came  in and decided on installing about 18 acres worth of plots, ranging from .25 acres to 4.5 acres each.  We used the Fall mix on most, but also had 4 different plots that had some established clover, so we reseeded those in a perennial mix along with lime and fertilizer.  Around every corner of this farm was another awesome stand, or land feature that would make any hunter jump at a chance to hunt it.  While I didn't get as many picture as I would have liked too, I hope you can enjoy these.

Fall Update #2 River Run Lodge- Bedford Co. TN

Bedford Co. TN---Had a guy call me up one day from Florida, interested in having some plots put in.  I said ok, where at???  He proceeded to tell me of his lease in TN that was only miles from my home and located on the banks of the Duck River in Bedford Co.  We discussed his plans and decided on putting in about 4 acres of fall attraction plots in several different locations on the farm.  Here are some shots I snapped that day in Mid August.

Food Plots are in High gear!!!

Wow, it's been busy since I was last here.  Hardly time to take a break from one set of plots to the next!  Here is a brief recap of some past jobs this fall!  Enjoy, and good luck everyone as we take to the woods!  Be safe out there!

Bowling Green KY--  I got to meet a really nice guy from Frankin, TN who purchased this farm to hunt on and be closer to his grand children.  What two better reasons to purchase land!!   We worked down about 3 acres of plots with our Fall Mix of  winter wheat, oats, and Austrian Winter Peas, and then top dressed it with a few pounds of  Reseeding Crimson Clover. 

Busy, Busy, Busy!!!

Just wanted to give a quick update about the past few weekends.  Busy is the word of the month around here!!  These cooler tempatures are persuading us to get started a little early this fall.  Now if we can get some rain to follow suit, we will be in business!!

In the last 2 weeks,  I worked and planted about 2.5 acres of plots in our Fall Mix just north of Bowling Green, KY, and another 3 acres in Bedford co. Tennessee, just south of Shelbyville.

I returned from Logan co. Kentucky where I chiseled up 16 acres worth of plots which made for a really long, dusty day.

Stay tuned for updates, and pictures to follow,  I promise!!!!

Oh,  pray for rain for all of us crazy people putting seed down in Mid August in the South!!!

It's about that time!!

Hello everyone!  Like the title says, it about that time to start turning some dirt!!!  It was a very mild weekend here in the Middle Tennessee area, and all I could think about was getting on the tractor and plotting!

It is shaping up to be a busy fall for me, as we have lots of plots to install and even some out of state for me.  Just remember one of the big keys to having successful fall plots is your timing!  September and October are typically our driest months of the year, so if at all possible, time your planting right before a rain.   It never hurts to have your spraying, discing, and such already finished so that you can spread that seed right before a good rain.

Also, keep in mind that different seeds require different planting depths!  Almost all of these commerical mixes that you can buy have large seeds like Winter Wheat and Oats mixed right in with the smallest clover and brassicas seeds on earth.   While the wheat and oats need to be down a 1 or 1 1/2 inches the clovers and brassicas need only to be broadcast on the surface at 1/4 inch or less.

Whats the solution to this problem?? Well you can buy your own seed from a local co-op or farm supply store, or use a strainer to sift the larger seeds from the smaller ones, so that you can get the seeding depths correct.  After all, I don't want to see anyone waste hard earned cash, only to be disappointed in the results.

On a side note,  this past weekend in Nashville, TN the Quality Deer Management  Assoc. had their National Convention in conjunction with the Land and Wildlife Expo.  It was a great convention,  and a great trade show as well.  There were tons of wonderful seminars conducted by the top biologist  and deer researchers in the country.  I encourage all of you to try to attend next year, and stop by the QDMA website for loads of great information. 

Everyone be safe out there and enjoy yourselves!!

Dove Field--Rutherford County

This is the first really big dove field that I've worked before and I'm excited to tell you all about it.

It is located in Milton, TN in Rutherford County.  It turns out to about 6 acres, and we planted a variety of plants in hope of feeding and attracting doves, deer, turkeys, and other small game.

The soil was in great condition and we went to work quickly, bushhogging it off and then working it down with a chisel plow and disc.  I then spread the fertilizer and the bigger seeds before discing them in to cover them.  We used Peredovic Sunflowers and Hutchinson Soybeans as our main attractant and then came back and broadcast some Brown Top Millet over the top. 

I look foward to going back in late August and cutting strips in the sunflowers and doing some discing in hopes of bringing in the doves!

Corn Planting-Chester Co. TN- April 2012

I had already planted about 3 acres of Powerplant on this farm, and we planted the rest in corn.  We had good soil moisture and a perfect day to plant!!  Enjoy!

Poured turpentine on the seed to keep the crows from pulling up the seeds and seedlings.  It works well, as that stuff stinks!!

Mixed Varieties of Pioneer Seed Corn

No-tilling the seed into the ground retains tons of soil moisture and really helps keep weeds at bay.

Here we are 21 days later..................

This area has had almost 5 inches of rain since this picture was taken!! On this day I sprayed and topdressed this corn with nitrogen.  I cant wait to see it now!!!!!

Wow its hot and dry!!!

It seems as if it were just yesterday that it was March 15, and the rains were flowing and the temps.  were mild and mother nature was begging us to get some seed in the ground!

Well, we did and things have not been to kind since then!!!  As Im typing the forcast is 102 for the next two or three days, and no rain in sight.  Noticed the local forecaster  said we were 6 inches behind for the year and even local farmers are starting to feed hay to beef cattle as most grasses are going dormant.  Fun times!!

Anyways, look for some updates as to the plots Ive installed over the last few months since Ive been a little behind!  Stay cool out there!!!

Clover Update

Ive never been to partial to clover, but then again, Ive never had a really good stand either.  Last fall I overseeded a couple of small places on the farm with Hooper's 6 type Clover blend.  I have to admit that I'm very impressed with the results.  If we ever get any rain, I plan on mowing it  and spraying a grass selective herbicide to knock back the fescue that is coming back.