if u have a field that has had a few years of round up ready soy growing, typically the soil is extreemly sterile from the repeated use of roundup. at least perenial weeds are nonexistant.

10 lbs of LBS/ acre and the correct soil type would be a deep stand of LBS. and yes it could be done.

froggy

If the field has lots of weeds, you have only one real option -- have a farmer plant Roundup Ready soybeans for another year. And make sure he applies the Roundup to kill the weeds. At $10 (per bushel) beans, it won't be hard to find a farmer to do this.

Then plant the LBS in Nov or Dec. Just broadcast them over the ground (frost seeding) if the site isn't very sloped.

How big is this field? How do you plan on getting the seeds planted? Smaller is better to begin with.

Then plant on mowing off the top 4-8 inches during the first year as foxtail and other annual grasses will probably explode during that first growing season without Roundup. But the little little bluestem plants (nice aliteration, eh?) will be unshaded and will get a good start.

Add some forb seeds such as wild bergamot, yellow coneflower, false sunflower, etc. and things will begin to look good in the third and forth years.

I am confused, what is roundup soy bean? Is it the chemical roundup then you plant soybeans after that? Can I apply this application for 1 season and then start planting the seeds in the winter as you suggest? Does roundup come in granuler form or is it just a spray. I usually have a farmer till up my garden in the spring so that won't be a problem to have him do this other stuff. I usually plant 85 tomatoes, some beans, peppers etc. My concern is will this round up have an effect of the garden which will be apprxoimately 500 feet away?

If the soybeans are seperate from the round up does that mean the soybeans go for 10.00 a bushel? Are they safe to eat after the roundup?

Thank you for all of your help.

I am hoping to do this prairie once and not have to worry about the weeds taking over again.

lets try to weed this out :)

soybean is a plant u grow and harvest. they have genetically altered some soy so that u can spray roundup on a growing field of soy and the soy is immune to the effects of the roundup. they call this soy 'round up ready soybean'. roundup is a broad spectrum herbicide, it kills anything green, except genetically altered stuff like roundup ready soy or roundup ready corn.

so, u get a farmer to plant roundup ready soy for a few years on an area u are going to make a prairie on in the future. this is a good way to kill off weeds while ur still using the soil productively until its ready to accept ur prairie seed. (and it can save u ALOT of upfront cost!!!)

1 year of roundup ready soy will do it but farmers arnt too crazy about only one cycle of cropping, 2 - 3 years of cropping is a little more their style.

and yes roundup will drift in the air and kill anything it lands on that is green. if the farmer is sloppy, it could drift to ur tomato area. but u can learn to spray within a foot of something if u are careful about it. again its a spray that has to land on green plant material. unground or runoff u shouldnt have to worry about it.

froggy