| Fall Planted Fava Bean Food Plot |
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Date:30-Jul-19
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Hi all,
Was looking around on a seed company website and saw they had Sweet Lorrane Fava Beans for sale as a cover crop- the description mentioned they are good for forage/food plots, low tannin variety, high in protein- averaging 20-30%, great source of minerals like iron, magnesium and phosphorus, and are extremely cold tolerant down to 10F.
This piqued my curiosity, so I started searching for info about their use in food plots but couldn’t find any information aside from one video from Monster Buck seed that also mentioned their cold tolerance and nutritional value.
I came across a study done by SARE and the USDA that looked at fava beans as a potential fall cover crop and there was one line that really jumped out at me. In the conclusion section it read “interestingly, the fava beans where highly sought after by the local deer herd, who would dig through several inches of snow to reach the green foliage well into December.”
They’re about the same price per 50lb as a non-gmo forage soybean at about $1/lb. so my question is this: with all these favorable traits- nutrition, deer preference, cold tolerance, legume/nitrogen production, tolerant of acidic soil down to 5.0 or lower in soils with low aluminum/manganese, etc. why don’t we hear more about their use in food plots?
Seeding rates in a monoculture are a little high at 100-150lbs per acre, so I could see that as one possible downside, but I figure it might be worth throwing 50lbs into a fall plot. I ordered 50lbs and will report back on how they do, but would love to hear if anyone here has any experience with fava beans in their food plots?
fava beans are also called “faba beans”, “broad beans”, and “bell beans” Incase anyone has used or heard of them under one of these names.
Thanks in advance for any feedback/info anyone might be able to share on this interesting legume!
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By:
Brotsky
Date:30-Jul-19
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Do you eat the deer with the fava beans and a nice chianti? :-)
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By:
Spike
Date:30-Jul-19
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Hello Clarice.
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By:
pav
Date:30-Jul-19
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Knew where this was headed when I read the thread title. You guys sure don't disappoint!
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Date:30-Jul-19
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“Do you eat the deer with the fava beans and a nice chianti? :-)”
I ask this knowing that the answer might very well be yes but when a movie reference is so ubiquitous that it has ventured beyond cliche and landed squarely in the realm of the mundane and uninspired, is there really any need to spell it out?
Is there even the slightest possible chance that anyone over the age of 30 could have read my question and not made that connection all in their own lol? Like is anyone really reading that thinking to themselves “oh wow, that’s really clever... never would have thought of that.”
It’s sorta like how every time I go out on a party boat and some drunk guy from Philly feels compelled to shout “we’re gonna need a bigger boat!” the second someone hooks a fish... God forbid anyone pulls in a dogfish- at that point, the entire experience morphs from a fishing trip into a demented, natty ice-fueled, floating, summer-stock production of JAWS with every boozed up ne’er-do-well on board who can still string a sentence together belching out their best Richard Dreyfus or Robert Shaw impression....
Even though I was really hoping to get some serious feedback on the topic, I guess it’s not hurting anyone and if someone gets a kick out of writing or reading a 27 year old movie quote offered up in response to serious question on the subject for which this forum was created, who am I to take issue with it? But still, it would be so nice if just once and a while people took a pass on the cheap punchlines and trusted in the fact that we got it already..,
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By:
Brotsky
Date:30-Jul-19
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You must be fun at parties.
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By:
woodguy65
Date:30-Jul-19
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It puts the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again!
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By:
woodguy65
Date:30-Jul-19
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Sorry couldnt resist - nothing wrong with planting it deer will eat it. It takes longer to germinate than a soy bean and plant it a tad deeper so it does t dry out.
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By:
pav
Date:30-Jul-19
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Look at it this way...all responses keep your thread near the top where someone that actually can answer an obscure question might see it and reply. Otherwise, the thread quickly gets buried into oblivion....
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By:
midwest
Date:30-Jul-19
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I bet you don't even laugh at farts.
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By:
jmiller
Date:30-Jul-19
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We've used fava beans in cover crop blends. Just make sure to get the forage beans and not the edible. The edible are huge and won't go through a drill. The deer do indeed seem to like them.
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Date:30-Jul-19
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“You must be fun at parties.”
Couldn’t tell ya but, if I ever get invited to one, I’ll def report back and let you know how it went! ; )
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By:
t-roy
Date:30-Jul-19
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Squid-pro-row, Brotsky.......Squid-pro-row! I remember when I was 12 years old, too!
I’ve never heard of anyone planting them for a food plot in my area, so I can’t give you any insight on them. It would definitely be worth it to try it and see what kind of results you get. One thing I would add, would be to try them more than once. Sometimes it takes a year or 3 before the deer take to certain things. It took the deer about 3 years to really develop a taste for brassicas in my area. It is probably my top draw now, especially late season.
