what brand and model of no till are you using. roundup ready has brought us out of the dark ages but many weeds are developing immunity. in the old days i would have to use different chemicals for the corn and the beans and the allis chalmers no till drill never did work. it would plant for a while and then miss for a while. if your chemical was applied ones options was limited. the angles were singing when roundup ready appeared. i have found that i can do without a drill by broadcasting the seed but it does take more seed.
i am in a area where there is plenty of real farmers planting crops so the pressure on my summer beans will not be extreme. i try to have non seeding beans late in the year which since i can not afford 100 dollar a bushell eagle forage beans has to be supplied by either a late july planting or adding them in my winter mixes. the last beans of the year that are still green will be found and will be hammered. doing this is a gamble a few years ago the first freeze was septeber 15. i think the average is around the 5 th of oct in my area. if this works out you do have a very good early attraction as well as another double source of nitrogen. again with a full bag of tricks one hopes to be nimble enough to adjust to what mother nature throws his way. failure is not a option. i finally completed this winters timber stand improvement today i will have to take some pictures of the mess. as well as other areas that have been done at different times as they respond. beauty is in the eye of the beholder. one has to keep focused on the long term goal and keep hammering away. i have found that if you are getting to much early pressure on your beans, turkey can wipe them out as soon as they sprout, throw some oats in the mix. the critters will hammer the oats giving your beans a chance to get their roots established. truly hazelvillebucks

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TRULY HAZELVILLEBUCKS
5 little acorn 5210-a
6 bushnell 119-325 - 1 bushnell 119-466 - 1 119-405 - 1 119-427
1 covert extreme red 40 - 1 nv-5
2 w.g.i. x10 cg
1 moutrie m80 xt 2 m80 x blk 2 m100 xt
1 hunten gsc35-50ir

I couldn't afford a big-boy no-till drill. I ended up buying a used Kasco 3-point 4' Versadrill. It is not as capable at the heavy drills, but it works very well for food plots. Unfortunately there is no agriculture for about 3 miles surrounding me. There is good and bad in that. With my deer densities, Eagle beans are the only game in town. When I plant ag beans, the seeds germinate and provide a bite or two and are gone. At least with the Eagle beans I have a fighting chance. The deer keep them naked all summer but don't kill them. Of course, part of my problem is acreage. I started with 3 acres in beans, moved to 5, and this spring I will be planting 7. I'm hoping to catch up to my deer densities eventually.

you might try a cover planting of oats it is discouraging to see beans wiped out before they have a chance. i have had turkeys total a bean planting just as they were getting their first leaves after the baby leaf. regular beans also come in different plant characteristics. which may help. whenever i have bought any i have went after the large plant with a long growing cycle. heavy grazing will also help make the beans thicker, will keep them from going to seed to soon. the oats besides giving the critters something else to munch while the beans are getting started,help keep the weeds at bay and will provide mulch for you later broadcast species. it sounds like you have a eager group of gardeners to help your later broadcast seeds get good ground contact . if you are not getting canopy i would be adding seed. i found that the hazelville herd actually seemed to prefer buckwheat over deer peas ,lab/lab, and soy beans. truly hazelvillebucks

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TRULY HAZELVILLEBUCKS
5 little acorn 5210-a
6 bushnell 119-325 - 1 bushnell 119-466 - 1 119-405 - 1 119-427
1 covert extreme red 40 - 1 nv-5
2 w.g.i. x10 cg
1 moutrie m80 xt 2 m80 x blk 2 m100 xt
1 hunten gsc35-50ir

I doubt the oats would help much. My deer get pretty selective where soybeans are concerned. The only thing that will keep them off the beans is sunflowers. When I used to mix, they would ignore other plants till the beans and sunflowers are gone. I'm also hesitant to add other plants to my beans. I'm already planting them about 20% heavier than the nominal recommendation.

It is interesting how deer preferences vary. Some guys tell me their deer won't touch buckwheat. They use the buckwheat I plant but never over-browse it and it sounds like a preferred food for your deer.

i guess local deer have there likes and dislikes,i have never saw deer utilize sunflowers or chicory, the oats were utilized early giving the beans a chance to get started. they will be gone when you spray. it sounds like you are right you will have to plant enough acres to keep up with the grazing. you could use a seclusion cage to see if oats are able to have any luck keeping your beans from being destroyed before they get started. i think q.d.m.a. gets a bad rap for doe harvest. there are many factors to consider when removing does. in missouri unlimited cheap permits has led to some areas having numbers lowered below where it needs to be. i have found that if you want bucks shoot does. the more does you remove the better chance a young buck will be able to stay around. take out all the boss does they are the ones that know what your game plan is. the does with button bucks fawns should be taken. if you know that the dominate buck in your area has been breading does in a certain area let them live a year. i do not understand why it works but when others complain about only seeing does and i am setting on more bucks then does something is working.maybe it is the sanctuary,s . regardless my area was hit by hunters that did not share my beliefs for two years. i had to procede with caution,it looks like a perfect time for grandchildren to come of age. truly hazelvillebucks

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TRULY HAZELVILLEBUCKS
5 little acorn 5210-a
6 bushnell 119-325 - 1 bushnell 119-466 - 1 119-405 - 1 119-427
1 covert extreme red 40 - 1 nv-5
2 w.g.i. x10 cg
1 moutrie m80 xt 2 m80 x blk 2 m100 xt
1 hunten gsc35-50ir

Yes, local preferences do seem different. I have a 1 acre exclusion cage. I used a Gallagher E-Fence to protect one acre last year for comparison. It worked well.

We've been taking every doe we can and still can't keep up with population growth. I heard a guy from NC do a talk on coyote and red wolf introduction on Saturday morning. Managers are now trying to decide if doe harvest policies are too liberal in some areas where coyotes are moving in. I learned on new non-intuitive fact as well. Coyotes actually help turkey populations grow while limiting deer populations.

We started this off with fertilizer prices. I just checked my an it is a mixed bag with not much change for me:

DAP 2011 - 0.395/lb 2012 - 0.39/lb
MAP 2011 - 0.395/lb 2012 - 0.39/lb
Potash 2011 - 0.389/lb 2012 - 0.401/lb

Thanks

Jack

I didnt check "bulk" fertilizer prices but here are some prices for 50lb bags I called around about. (Central Wisconsin)

0-0-60 , triple 19 were about 17-20$ a bag.

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Both of these are in bags..

46-0-0 is 18.95/50lbs
10-20-20 is 16.95/50lbs

That's all I asked about when I was checking..

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