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Drilling Soybean question
Food Plots
Messages posted to thread:
Osceola 15-Mar-17
t-roy 15-Mar-17
Osceola 15-Mar-17
Osceola 15-Mar-17
Mark Watkins 15-Mar-17
t-roy 15-Mar-17
Michael Schwister 17-Mar-17
Osceola 17-Mar-17
Michael Schwister 17-Mar-17
Michael Schwister 17-Mar-17
Osceola 17-Mar-17
Habitat for Wildlife 19-Mar-17


Date:15-Mar-17

I have always drilled soybeans in 7.5" rows. I am contemplating going to 30"(most likely)or 15" rows by plugging the drop holes on my drill. It seems the tractor tires cause plant damage on about 1/4 of all my plants when I spray herbicide. I am hoping to avoid plant damage by driving the tractor down 30" rows. Seeing pictures of Pat's soybeans field on the annual review was a motivating influence.

Is this a dumb idea to go to wider rows with more plants per row?

By: t-roy
Date:15-Mar-17

How wide is your sprayer boom? What width are your tractor tires set at? How wide is your drill? You could possibly just plug the corresponding rows to where your tires are going to run if that's doable in your situation. I have a 6 row 30" planter and sprayed with an Atv boom that covers 5 rows. I tried doing something similar to what you're contemplating. I was going to double plant my beans with 15" rows for a thicker canopy to try and control weed growth a little better and more quickly, plus disable the proper rows where the atv tires would run when I sprayed. I somehow got off on which rows to leave out and ended up with mess! Math was never my strong suit. Its 's not that big of a deal if you drive over some beans when you're spraying. Some of them grow back.

Date:15-Mar-17

T-Roy: I will have to measure my tire width and drill width to be exact. Approximately tires-about 4 feet apart, drill-10 feet wide, 3 point sprayer-18 feet wide. Not good at math either. Having rows may make it easier. Without the benefit of rows, I always drive wide and end up having weeds strips after I spray.

Pat: I put 8 acres to beans and they never get taller than 15 inches as the deer numbers are so high. My trail camera can't catch the entire field and I often have pictures of 30+ deer in the picture. I used to curse it as I could never grow a "pretty" bean field, then I realized the I want the deer to come eat it and the lack of canopy makes it easy for me to drill brassica/radishes directly into the standing beans every August. Without a canopy, I do fight weeds every now and then.

Date:15-Mar-17

T-Roy: I will have to measure my tire width and drill width to be exact. Approximately tires-about 4 feet apart, drill-10 feet wide, 3 point sprayer-18 feet wide. Not good at math either. Having rows may make it easier. Without the benefit of rows, I always drive wide and end up having weeds strips after I spray.

Pat: I put 8 acres to beans and they never get taller than 15 inches as the deer numbers are so high. My trail camera can't catch the entire field and I often have pictures of 30+ deer in the picture. I used to curse it as I could never grow a "pretty" bean field, then I realized the I want the deer to come eat it and the lack of canopy makes it easy for me to drill brassica/radishes directly into the standing beans every August. Without a canopy, I do fight weeds every now and then.

Date:15-Mar-17

Osceola,

Sounds to me like you have a winning formal in its current state!

Have you tried fencing of the key area(s) of the field?

Mark

By: t-roy
Date:15-Mar-17

I'm not as interested in your tire width as the distance from left inside edge to right inside edge of your tires. Most tractor wheels can be slid in or out on the axles depending on your row widths so as not to drive over your rows. Also, having rows will help a bunch with your spraying. Once you figure it out, you should get consistent coverage with little overlap or missed coverage.

As far as the deer pounding your plots. The best solution to that is an electric plot fence. Several threads on here on that subject. Good luck and have fun!

Date:17-Mar-17

I drill in my forage soybeans with a 1967 Oliver "superior 76" grain drill with very good results. It has 13 openings at 7.5" I use other 1967 methods like a chisel plow for primary tillage, and a disc harrow with drag as secondary tillage, and a double cultipacker behind the drill for soil/seed contact,as well as a cyclone spreader for bulk fertilizer broadcast). I spray with an ATV, and just drive over the beans, they will pop back up (and will do same mostly with a tractor sprayer). Many crop farmers also have this discussion. A drill usually allows higher seed population and canopies faster which enhances weed control. Advantages of using a planter are less disease (white mold) in wetter climes, and a better seed depth control, which leads to a better/more even stand and often a higher yield (while using less very expensive seed which creates better return on investment), as beans that emerge later become weeds that rob from those that emerge early for a grain producer. Another is planters generally have fertilizer boxes that enable side dressing fertilizer (2x2) near but not in the seed trench. I use the drill to plant my beans in the spring, Rye/wheat/oats (main box) and Brassicas in fall (small seed box), and when establishing perenial clovers (small seed box) with a oat or rye (main box)nurse crop in fall or very early spring. AND, I got it for $600 and made another $600 in repairs and now it works as new. One can do the same with a rented No-til drill from the coop in many cases.

I have often thought of getting a JD 7000 series planter with seed cups for beans,and the normal meters for corn with no-till coulters and a dry fertilizer box (the big one in front with seperate hoses and openers, not the small insecticide boxes in back many sell as fertilizer boxes)to speed the process to one pass, allow much less seed purchase, allow a rotation into corn, and perhaps allow an earlier cover crop/brassica overseed in fall (due to rows). You can find then re-conditioned for around $3000k in a 3 pt 2 and 3 row configuration (cut down from much larger ag planters). The 7000 series was developed in the 70s, but it is still a superb planter design.

I think both can and will work whichever you decide

Date:17-Mar-17

Mike, thanks for the response good info.

You mentioned a fertilizer box. My drill doesn't have one, but I have thought of using the small seed box to drop fertilizer right on top of the seed row. There would be several stops to make sure the seed box stays full as it wouldn't hold much fertilizer. I would leave unopened bags of fertilizer on the drill as I planted and open as needed.

Could it be a very efficient way to fertilize? I assume I would need to clean out the small seed box really well. I will need several attempts to get the correct application calibration.

Date:17-Mar-17

Many grain drills do have a fertilizer box also (To include mine, but fertilizer is VERY corrosive and it was not properly cleaned and oiled after each use over 50 years of use and is now destroyed). As for other grain drills, sprinkling fertilizer on top can be done, but fertilizer can also damage seedlings if too close. Broadcasting at higher levels is best done before seeding and then tilled in. A corn type planter can lay a band of high volume fertilizer in it's own trench 2" to the side and 2" bellow the seed row. Right next to the seed to be used at optimum levels and times (and away from most weed seedlings).

The small seed box is geared to drop around 8 lbs per acre give or take a few. For maximum production (and based upon soil tests, I place at least 70 #s P and 120# K per acres just for mainetence. I do that before I chisel plow in the spring. That is about 300#/acre dry fert based upon type of formulation. A corn planter with 2X2 can do that, a grain drill with drop on top fert probably should not, it will likely cause damage and nutrient runoff

Date:17-Mar-17

That much fert is generally not done by many crop farmers (although they should IMHO as it is a variable cost), but at only 5 acres of food plots it is a small price for the increased production, and MAXIMUM draw. Deer come from a long way to feed on such a plot, even over acorns, and standing neighborhood ag crops. Plus, the dominent deer will stake their claim. Growing up on a farm in southern WI I noticed deer in areas of high fertility black soil are much larger, and faster growing than those in areas of poor soil. Want huge midwest stye deer? Make IA/IL/Southern WI soil. My cousin has a 174" southern WI bow kill buck that was aged at 3 1/2 years old. A big VA mountain area 3 1/2 yrs is very lucky to make 120" (if they live that long). After 8 years of plotting I am now seeing the same deer making 140" ish. If we are gonna plot (another discussion) I opine we do it for MAX fertility and TDN production. AN extra $300-500 per year is worth it (it is a build process, once there we can focus and balancing micros)

Date:17-Mar-17

That eliminates the small seed box idea...I will continue to broadcast and till

Date:19-Mar-17

I cannot afford a drill, so I broadcast. Spray glue right over them and most still produce something.

I did broadcast brassicas at the end of August on some, and rye grain mid-September in another area. Best late season plot I ever had.


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