Older varieties boon to wildlife enthusiasts
SENATOBIA, Miss. – A few days ago, a man who walked into this field may have thought he’d stumbled into a fairytale
It doesn’t really matter. What does matter, says Steve Payne, is that deer trails are still evident and the beans are still harvestable.
It may seem strange that Payne actually wants these two things in the same field. But that would be before you know that Payne is a wildlife biologist who actually has a passion to restore old, forgotten forage beans to Delta land. There is a place for such varieties, he insists, especially in this age of food plots and hunting leases. Payne is the man to see if you’re looking for old soybeans or new food-plot seed mixes.
Forage beans: then and now
Many years ago, forage soybeans were the ones to have. Old articles in agriculture publications speak about soybeans coming into Mississippi for forage. Little attention was paid to oil values. Now, hardly anyone talks about soybeans as forage.
That’s changing. USDA recently released three varieties — a Group 5, a 6 and a 7. Payne is growing the Group 7 named Tyrone — which produces 25 percent to 35 percent protein and is great for addition to silage or hay for cattle — for Tennessee Farmers Coop in Laverne.
But finding a good, old soybean or a new exotic seed to blend in with wildlife mixes is what lights Payne’s eyes up. Payne, a graduate of Mississippi State University with a degree in forestry and wildlife, says he is simply trying to fill a niche. When he graduated a few years ago, he decided there was a big need for wildlife seeds and no one was filling that need.
“I have a friend at Mississippi State who helps me find old soybeans — like Laredo — that have been put back in seed storage for 15 or 20 years. Most of the seeds have lost their germ. But if we can get one or two plants, we can start a project and see what develops,” says Payne, who farms and manages a hunting club.
Payne stops his truck next to a field of Laredo soybeans, a very old bush forage variety that gets about 5 feet tall and produces about 800 pounds of protein to the acre. The steady summer rains experienced in the Delta have muddied the roads. Payne, boots giving in the moist soil, walks into the field of Quail Haven soybeans and Egyptian wheat (another giant variety that grows as high as a basketball rim).
“Notice how the soybeans are growing up the wheat and pulling it over. MSU developed it in the 1960’s to go in with silage corn to up the protein content. They found out they couldn’t keep deer out of it.”
A healthy deer herd is clearly the goal for Payne. If the large number of deer trails branching through the field is any indication, the herd is in fine shape. Deer clearly like the offerings. But the plants get so big, says Payne, that deer can’t really hurt the crop. When the crop dries down, plant matter will be so low to the ground combines have a hard time picking it up. But it can be done, “you just have to drive through it slow.”
What about the Egyptian wheat?
Payne says a good thing about Egyptian wheat is it makes a great cover crop allowing deer to feel secure. It works very well along roadsides, shielding poachers from seeing fields. It grows up to 12 feet, but when it finally breaks, it does so mid-stalk. This still allows tall cover and the heads are close to the ground where quail and turkey can get to them. Deer eat the seed heads, he says.
“We usually tell folks to plant in April and May to take advantage of rains. The forage soybeans have a much longer growing season. We’ve got a bean coming out in a few years that has a 140-day maturity.
“You treat these soybeans like you would a regular soybean. Make sure your pH is around 6, make sure your fertility is good.”
When people see his wild looking fields, Payne often fields questions about how hard it is to revert to a controlled row-crop situation. He says the concerns are understandable, but nothing to worry about.