Forage Soybeans w/ Pearl Millet

[MikeC]

Will be adding some "Big Fellow" soybeans to my Pearl Millet plantings this spring to assist in helping keep down Nitrogen costs. Plus, my forage advisor tells me the forage will be much superior all around.

This seemed like the best alternative besides peanuts for a summer legume.

Pearl millet prices are up again and although I won't be using any Roundup, these beans are labeled for it. $46 per bag.......Ug.......................

The leaves are supposed to be around 8" wide and the plants are supposed to get over 6 feet tall.

We'll see.

 

[Florida cattle]

Mike C I've been thinking of using beans or iron & clay peas for summer forage, I have a friend who has used iron & clay the past 2 years and has done good with them. Do you have any info on the "Big Fellow"?

 

[MikeC]

Mike C I've been thinking of using beans or iron & clay peas for summer forage, I have a friend who has used iron & clay the past 2 years and has done good with them. Do you have any info on the "Big Fellow"?

There's not a lot on them yet.

Just this:

Big Fellow RR was developed to
contain the Roundup Ready gene to
make clean up of production areas
and food plots simple and cost
effective. The variety is a consistent
bio-mass producer with enormous leaf
size and bushiness. When irrigated,
leaf size can be in excess of 8 inches,
although the variety is drought-
tolerant. Big Fellow shows resistance
to several races of nematode, foliar
disease, and stem canker. Like Large
Lad, Big Fellow is also tawny with tan
pod walls and purple flowers. Both
varieties are taller and leafier than the
USDA Forage Soybean cultivars
Donegal, Derry and Tyrone in
side-by-side comparisons on
irrigated Arkansas silt loam soils.

 

[western]

sounds like a great combo. I wonder how soybeans would do with ProMax. When planted straight (by itself) we've had better results with ProMax then Pearl Millet.

http://www.promaxbmr.com

 

[sizmic]

Western,
What is the maturity rate of Promax? From what I can gather it wouldn't be close to the same.

Sizmic

 

[MikeC]

sounds like a great combo. I wonder how soybeans would do with ProMax. When planted straight (by itself) we've had better results with ProMax then Pearl Millet.

http://www.promaxbmr.com

Pearl millet does better than the sudan-sorghum hybrids in this sandy ground.

We plant the sudans in the prairie type soils just south of here.

Soybeans do pretty well in both.

 

[Diehard40]

Not sure how much the beans will benefit the millet, but they may
We have been planting several varieties of forage beans for a few years and have had good luck.
my reccomendation is to wrap them (baleage/haylage) instead of drying them out.
Southern States has a variety called Tyrone, there is also a variety called Hinson out of FL
I'm not formilar with the Big Fellow, but will be.
plant the forage beans heavy to decrease the stem size which will incr. digestability.
about 2 bu/acre
this will also cut down on weeds. of course the grassy weeds won't hurt much any way.

 

[MikeC]

Not sure how much the beans will benefit the millet, but they may
We have been planting several varieties of forage beans for a few years and have had good luck.
my reccomendation is to wrap them (baleage/haylage) instead of drying them out.
Southern States has a variety called Tyrone, there is also a variety called Hinson out of FL
I'm not formilar with the Big Fellow, but will be.
plant the forage beans heavy to decrease the stem size which will incr. digestability.
about 2 bu/acre
this will also cut down on weeds. of course the grassy weeds won't hurt much any way.

Don't have equipment for haylage. Thought I would graze them some and put the rest up for hay.

What about peas? They might work for grazing?

I'm planting the pearl millet to hold the beans up and keep them from lodging. Plus add some dry matter.

I planted Tyrone 2 years ago in a remote area and the deer ate them as soon as they came up.

 

[western]

Maturity on ProMax is about 50 days (for hay). If anyone is going to use ProMax for grazing they say your 1st grazing should be about 30inch.

 

[pdfangus]

Many years ago we used to grow beans and milo for silage.

that made great feed. But like I said we used it for silage.

I would think getting hay from beans and pearl millet cured would be the biggest obstacle.

If I had someone who could wrap big round bales for me as silage i would plant some myself. I will not gamble on being able to cure it for dry hay.

 

[Diehard40]

in the southeast on a normal year getting beans to cure for dry hay can be a problem.
wrapping is deffinetly the best option to go with
I don't know how much grazing you will get from beans.
i would think one pass through the field would be about it

 

[simangus23]

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