Whole, raw soybeans are not a good feed. Poison to horses, not sure of other farm animal reactions. They taste quite nasty whole and raw, not something the animals would eat if they can avoid it by having enough other feed and hay.
Feeding soybean MEAL, which is COOKED, can add protein to your animals diet. We have added soybean meal to our grain mix for the horses. I give the same grain mix, no molasses, to the sheep and cattle in small quantities, have had not bad reactions.
Soybean meal is only 10% of total grain mix, which is the proper amount to be useful to horses. Protein is used in hair, hooves, both of which are excellent on our horses and other animals fed the grain. Also adds a good shine to that hair coat. Our hay is grassy, not ever much alfalfa in it to overdose the protein levels.
I would have husband plant the soybeans, but plan to sell them at harvest time.
Do get a soil test done before planting, for an application of needed fertilizers. Some other trace minerals may be missing, that will help more in the long run than just soybean planting. My fields had PLENTY of Nitrogen, but without the help of a mostly Lime application, the plants could not use the Nitrogen already there. Chemical linking to activate things is how it was explained to me. Soil chemicals change over time and use. I HAD put lime on in the past, but now the land needed MORE. We had spread a lot of used bedding, grazed the fields, cut the grass, since the last fertilizer application, so dirt needed different minerals applied NOW. Second soil test showed how much changed the field dirt was in only 3 years.
Soil test is the only ACCURATE way to tell EXACTLY what minerals are needed in the soil. Guessing wastes your crop time growing, ending up with poorer crop, money wasted buying generic fertilizers that don't help your lands, just wash off.
Feeding soybean MEAL, which is COOKED, can add protein to your animals diet. We have added soybean meal to our grain mix for the horses. I give the same grain mix, no molasses, to the sheep and cattle in small quantities, have had not bad reactions.
Soybean meal is only 10% of total grain mix, which is the proper amount to be useful to horses. Protein is used in hair, hooves, both of which are excellent on our horses and other animals fed the grain. Also adds a good shine to that hair coat. Our hay is grassy, not ever much alfalfa in it to overdose the protein levels.
I would have husband plant the soybeans, but plan to sell them at harvest time.
Do get a soil test done before planting, for an application of needed fertilizers. Some other trace minerals may be missing, that will help more in the long run than just soybean planting. My fields had PLENTY of Nitrogen, but without the help of a mostly Lime application, the plants could not use the Nitrogen already there. Chemical linking to activate things is how it was explained to me. Soil chemicals change over time and use. I HAD put lime on in the past, but now the land needed MORE. We had spread a lot of used bedding, grazed the fields, cut the grass, since the last fertilizer application, so dirt needed different minerals applied NOW. Second soil test showed how much changed the field dirt was in only 3 years.
Soil test is the only ACCURATE way to tell EXACTLY what minerals are needed in the soil. Guessing wastes your crop time growing, ending up with poorer crop, money wasted buying generic fertilizers that don't help your lands, just wash off.
Check with your local extension office for what grows well in your area for alternative legumes to soybeans. There's several options (alfalfa, red clover, lespedeza, etc...) depending on your soil. You might decide to do a mix even.
