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Soybeans for forage? Harvest now

A University of Wisconsin soybean researcher says farmers considering soybeans as a forage crop should consider harvesting now. 

Shawn Conley tells Brownfield that right around the R4 to R5.5 growth stage is when soybeans have maximum biomass. “The forage quality isn’t as great as if you delay a little bit later, but the challenge you run into is if we get too big of seeds in those pods, the mower conditioning process will shell some of those seeds out and you lose the protein content.”

Conley says harvesting beans for forage now will give farmers enough time to use that field for additional late fall forage. “Look at oats as a fall forage, and I think there’s some opportunity there for farmers to double-crop some forage off of some of their acres just in case they’re in need or in demand for that forage today.”

Conley tells Brownfield he’s been hearing from a lot of Wisconsin farmers concerned about not having enough forage for their dairy operations because of wet spring weather and severe winterkill on alfalfa and small grains.