# Forage soybeans



## robert23239 (May 10, 2009)

Anyone try some forage soybeans for haylage? 
Have used regular for hay feeding heifers and they did good with it . Looks like more tonage with the forage beans. I am in the Carolinas.

Thanks


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## aawhite (Jan 16, 2012)

We planted them quite a bit in SE Iowa, especially as a double crop behind wheat or for a hayfield we were rotating out for a couple oc seasons. Good tonnage, high protein, very palatable, dairy cows absolutely loved it. We chopped or baled as baleage for the most part, was a difficult crop to dry down for dry hay baling.

We usually planted a hay bean and milo variety from Pioneer. The little bit of millo helped with lodging/gave the plants support. These beans could be pushing 6 feet tall at cutting with good moisture.


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## PaMike (Dec 7, 2013)

How long from plant to harvest?


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## aawhite (Jan 16, 2012)

We would drill them from late May to as late as first week of July if the wheat was cut for grain and straw baled off. We would usually cut in late August/early September to maximize tonnage.


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## Grateful11 (Apr 5, 2009)

Wife and son plant non-RU ready soybeans mixed with Brown Top Millet every year after the Oats are baled or Combined. Don't know what variety of Beans they are just something a large nearby farmer harvests and cleans and sells direct, last year they were $11 a bag. I asked my wife what her Dad used to plant and she said he used to always plant Hutcheson variety of Soybeans but she's tried to find them and had no luck for quite some time.

Man looking at these videos and the photo makes me long for better weather


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## PaMike (Dec 7, 2013)

What brand bean do you get? I know there is some high dollar seed sold for food plots that is Round Up Ready....


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## Grateful11 (Apr 5, 2009)

We don't know what we're getting from the guy we get it from but it's what's in the photo and videos above. Friend of ours said he bet it was RU ready and he was probably selling it as non-RU ready. So we sprayed a small spot about 4'x4' and friend was wrong it was not RU ready, it killed it dead as a doornail.


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## Bonfire (Oct 21, 2012)

aawhite said:


> We planted them quite a bit in SE Iowa, especially as a double crop behind wheat or for a hayfield we were rotating out for a couple oc seasons. Good tonnage, high protein, very palatable, dairy cows absolutely loved it. We chopped or baled as baleage for the most part, was a difficult crop to dry down for dry hay baling.
> 
> We usually planted a hay bean and milo variety from Pioneer. The little bit of millo helped with lodging/gave the plants support. These beans could be pushing 6 feet tall at cutting with good moisture.


Was there ever a concern about rancid oil from the bean? The seed oil interfering with the ensiling process? Don't sound like it.


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## aawhite (Jan 16, 2012)

There were no bean pods set or they were so imature they made no difference. We were always told thats the big difference on forage beans. They are bred to grow aggressively and set few pods and at a very late stage, so pods of beans aren't an issue when they are cut. I don't remember seeing a single pod when we swathed the beans. You could always cut them earlier, as well, though you will lose tonnage. There have been some university studies about interplanting forage beans with corn. Supposed to bump up the protein level of your corn silage.

We usually ahd 100 acres of haybeans and milo out each year. If we were able to cut our wheat early for silage, the beans got planted in late May. If weather forced us to cut the wheat for grain, we baled the straw, hauled manure, then worked the ground and drilled in early July.


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## PaMike (Dec 7, 2013)

Grateful11- Is your neighbor a seed dealer? At $11 a bag I would buy some and ship it up to PA. Nobody sells any locally so I have to pay shipping one way or another...


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## Grateful11 (Apr 5, 2009)

PaMike said:


> Grateful11- Is your neighbor a seed dealer? At $11 a bag I would buy some and ship it up to PA. Nobody sells any locally so I have to pay shipping one way or another...


I'd be glad to find out. They are seed dealers but not really my neighbor, they're about 30 minutes away. They're a large operation running about 1000 head of cattle spread out over 3 counties. One son is also a dealer for Augusta Seed. We've got to pick up some more 3x3x6' Straw bales from them next week so I'll ask. They probably would because they are moving cattle up and down the east coast. What kind of quantities would you be wanting? My wife just said the price she got from him 2 weeks ago was $14 but I've seen them go up and down with the market as the year goes by. He only had 60 bushels cleaned and ready 2 weeks ago when we were down there picking up some straw, she would have taken them but by the time they would need them the mice would probably get into them.

She just now said for me to call them in the morning and see if we get the straw tomorrow, looks like rain just about all week next week. If it gets any wetter around here I just don't know, still have quite a bit of snow on the ground too. Believe I'd rather have it cold enough to keep the ground frozen this time of year. Some areas are still frozen but thawing out on top.


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## PaMike (Dec 7, 2013)

I would only plant about 5 acres. Best price I found anywhere was around $35/bag plus shipping.


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## Grateful11 (Apr 5, 2009)

PaMike said:


> I would only plant about 5 acres. Best price I found anywhere was around $35/bag plus shipping.


My wife said for 5 acres you're probably looking at what, 8 bags of beans at 75# to the acre?

We went and picked up 6 more big squares of Straw today and I asked if they would ship the beans and sorry to say they said no. You wouldn't be happening to be headed this way over the next few months would you? Be glad to hook you up with them, heck I'll go with you. Last year my wife and son bought almost 2 pallet loads of soybeans from them. They're still $14/bag. The $35/bag beans you're buying, are they Roundup ready?


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## PaMike (Dec 7, 2013)

No the RR beans are like $80 or $90 a bag. Most everyone I find on the internet are selling beans for food plots for deer, so they charge an arm and a leg....


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