Best Warm Season Annual Legume: Forage Soybeans vs Cowpeas

There are not many warm season annual legumes that are drought resistant, nutritious for livestock, and thrive in hot weather. In Mississippi, forage soybeans and cowpeas are among the best cover crops to try. Which one will perform better?
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[@jklxyx3629]

Your content it exactly what I've been needing. Im growing out two pigs on pasture my first time. Thanks

[@DowdleFamilyFarms]

Thank you. It’s very encouraging. Do you raise livestock? Pigs?

[@tentamalaska]

Have you considered increasing your stocking density in smaller paddocks for a little longer?
Greg Judy says that's a sure fire way to improve the soil, lay down more trampled vegetation to compost, puts down more nutrients through the higher concentrations of manures, speeds up the productivity of the new forages that emerges.
He learned that from Ian.
Love your channel!

[@DowdleFamilyFarms]

Thank you for watching our channel. I think I'll do a video to answer this question more fully. There are a lot of factors involved in these decisions. Ultimately, it depends upon your priorities. The soil in most of these paddocks where I have been growing cover crops for three or more years is really good already. Of course we want to continue to improve it, but now that its much better there are other priorities. If I have decent soil like where my breeder pigs are located, then my priority is to reduce feed costs for the pigs. Growing grain can be very destructive for the environment. As result, if I can drastically reduce my grain consumption, while also improving soil heath (even if i'm improving soil health at a slower rate than other ways of managing it), then it meets my goals most importantly. Therefore, where the breeder pigs are, the priority is reducing feed costs. However, other areas of the farm require more emphasis on improving soil, so I am managing the crops differently on those parts of the farm.
Another huge factor that impacts how we manage compared to greg judy is that he is managing permanent, perennial pasture rather than annual cover crops. They both can contribute to or destroy soil health depending on how they are managed. For example, sorghum sudangrass (annual cover crop) excels in regrowth after grazing, so pigs need to be managed on that more carefully than cows would be. I want the sorghum sudangrass to regrow because that's where it really improves soil heath is on regrowth. If I left these pigs, or more pigs on there longer, then it would kill the sorghum sudangrass and I would lose that extra carbon sequestered really deeply into the soil profile.
There are other factors involved as well. I will try to include them in a more comprehensive video for you in the next couple weeks.

[@user-ck7ro7ep3d]

@@DowdleFamilyFarms I'm glad to see you're up and about again. Also, I'm really looking forward to the video you mentioned above. I haven't found anything yet that goes into decisions where the soil is decent enough that improving it can be a close second to reducing feed costs.