Soybean Help Please

I posted this last week.Thanks QDM4Life for reply but still need a few more answers. I am sure by looking at the other recent posts that there are guys planting soybeans, I am not wanting somebody to drive 15 hrs from Minne to help I would just like to questions answered. I don’t even know if they can by grown here.

Thanks in advance, Willy

Not a big crop(cash or food plot) here in Saskatchewan. I have never seen or heard of any. I am just wondering what type of land do they grow best in(heavy/light), any specific kind of bean, fertilizer,planting and so on. I generally travel to WI at Easter so I can pick up at local seed Co-op or wherever.Just need so insite,planning for next year now,i have access to some more acres and just deciding what I am going to try.

Willy,

I see beans planted from all over Mn to Iowa, to South Dakota. I’ve never noticed any in North Dakota, but I gotta believe they are planted there also. You are talking about a wide range of soil types. I can’t believe if you can grow corn and wheat up there that you can’t grow beans.

Once you get your soil tests back, you should be able to tell if the soil is “OK” for beans. I’m sure any local agronomist could also help determine the proper fertilizer regiment. Sorry I can’t help more, I’m just learning this stuff myself.

John

I can help you out

As far as soybeans go, they are fairly easy to grow. Soil types around here in WI vary greatly, and people grow beans in every single one. The biggest thing is the amount of water they receive. If you are using them for a late season food source-they will need more water than if growing them as a forage type food plot. Fertilizer really isn’t a HUGE deal (won’t need nitrogen, soybeans get their nitrogen from a process with bacteria called nodulation-won’t get into the fancy details ). Potash is what most guys use as a starter fertilizer, and then add in whats needed (you will find out with a soil test )

As far as the beans themselves, you want to make sure you grow an indeterminate, long day variety of beans. The indeterminate means the beans will flower earlier and continue to flower as the plant grows (plant doesn’t have to be completely mature for flowers to develop). If you were to grow a determinate variety, the plants would have to be fully mature before flowering (and with an early frost, you could lose all your plants). The long day soybean plants will ensure that the plants are getting the right amount of light to grow properly. If you planted the short day variety, your plants would flower much later than you would want.

One more important thing I will add is make sure that you buy inoculated seed or by inoculation bacteria to mix in with the seed. It is much easier and cheaper to get pre-inoculated seed. Without the inoculation (bacteria that helps produce the nitrogen), your soybean plants will be severely stunted and produce little to no beans themselves.

I hope this helps! Sorry to write a book, but these little details will REALLY increase the odds of them working well!

Let me know if you have any more questions! I’d be happy to help (I’m a Crop and Soil Science Major at UW-River Falls)

I have spent the last couple of days doing research and reflecting on years of planting soybeans in northern mn. The truth is that in Canada you WILL have an early frost so the idea of planting a long season soybean in hopes of hunting over a green crop is a long shot as the frost will have killed the green leaves by the hunting season. I would rather have a crop of soybeans that were designed to mature in a short period of time and hunt over the soybeans that have matured naturally. Just my .02 I would recommend a maturity level 1 or 0 for Your providence.