Many experienced land managers consider soybeans to be the best crop to grow in their plots. Soybeans can provide a high quality food source to the deer on your property for the majority of the year. Deer will start browsing on soybeans as soon as they germinate and continue feeding on them through the entire growing season. Once the soybean plants have matured, deer will feed off the soybean grain inside the pods.
Real World soybeans are also “glyphosate tolerant” meaning that you can spray glyphosate herbicide right over the top of your soybean plots to keep them weed free. Glyphosate is an easy-to-acquire, over-the-counter herbicide that will kill weeds but not harm your Real World soybean plants.
Planting Date – Plant soybeans after the soil temperature has reached 60-degrees. Planting too early can result in poor germination rates and planting too late will have a negative impact on forage and grain production. For most of the country the ideal planting time will be during the month of May through June. If farmers in your area plant soybeans watch when they are planting their fields and plant your plots a week or two later. This will encourage the local deer to start feeding in the farmers soybean fields first and better allow your smaller soybean plots to become established without excessive deer browsing pressure.
Site Prep – Start by spraying your soybean plots in the spring to kill any vegetation. When it is time to plant prepare a good seedbed by disking or tilling the ground so that it is primarily free of bigger dirt-clods. The soil does not need to be worked into a power-fine consistency but just free of large clods.
Planting – Soybeans are very easy to grow and can be planted several ways. The goal is to get the seed covered with about 1-inch of soil. If you have a planter or grain-drill, that is fantastic. If not, you can broadcast the soybean seed and then cover it by dragging the plot or disking it very lightly. Make sure the seed is not more than 1 ½ inches deep. If some of the seed is exposed on top of the ground, it can still grow as long as it gets adequate moisture.
Maintenance – Weed control is the most important thing for achieving a good soybean food plot. This ALWAYS starts with the application of a good pre-emergent (residual) herbicide onto a totally weed free plot! Apply the preemergent herbicide either right before or right after planting (before the soybeans germinate). Real World Wildlife Products sells a quality pre-emergent herbicide for soybeans that is compatible with the soybean seeds we sell.
An application of a pre-emergent herbicide will keep your plot free of weeds for a period of time. This varies by a number of factors such as soil types and weather patterns. Eventually the pre-emergent herbicide will wear off and weeds will start to appear in your plot. When this happens, it is important to spray these weeds as early as possible. Spraying 3″ tall weeds is better than waiting until they are 6″ tall. Bigger weeds become much harder to kill.  BE CAREFUL WHAT HERBICIDE YOU SPRAY ON YOUR SOYBEANS!