A few weeks ago, I talked about what I would include on my list for New Year’s Resolutions if I were a full-time farmer wanting to raise 300-bushel corn. This week I want share what tops my list for “increasing bushels per acre” specifically for soybeans.

Following are keys to achieving higher yields in soybeans:

1. Variety Selection: In my opinion, this is THE most important factor to achieving higher soybean yields.  Farmers need to manage a number of stress factors: disease, insects, Soybean Cyst Nematodes, etc. Fortunately, many of these stress factors can be managed through careful variety selection. I include insects because even the Soybean Aphid can now be managed with Aphid-Resistant soybean cultivars. In the past, too many decisions have been based on cost per bag and the size of the seed in the bag. Those two factors won’t add a single bushel to your overall yield. Getting to know your local Latham Sales Representative coupled with the Latham Seed-2-Soil program will help farmers determine the best varieties to place in their fields giving them the best possible chance to achieve high yield goals.
2. Early planting: Soybeans are a light-sensitive crop, so yields are strongly influenced by the amount of solar radiation the crop receives throughout the growing season. It stands to reason that the earlier-planted crop will have more potential for yield since it will have greater access to sunlight. However, there are risks associated with early planting. Farmers must be careful to protect early-planted soybeans from seedling diseases and insects. We recommend the use of seed treatments containing either a fungicide or a fungicide-insecticide combination. Our SoyShield™ brand seed treatments are an excellent choice to help with this.
3. Weed Management: Soybeans are very sensitive to early season competition from grass and broadleaf weeds. Using a weed control program that includes a pre-emergence herbicide and a post-applied product will reduce the stress from weed pressure and allow for early canopy closure. An early complete canopy is important to intercept as much sunlight as possible throughout the growing season.
4. Narrow Row Spacing: Again, getting back to the theory that enhanced yields are tied directly to the amount of light that can be intercepted by the soybean crop, then narrow row spacings will help greatly in closing the canopy and allowing for increased light interception. I strongly recommend that farmers take a look at row spacings in the 15 – 20 inch range. Over many years of field observations, this seems to be the range that affords the greatest amount of yield potential while also mitigating risks associated with drilled soybeans in the 7 – 10 inch range.
5. Soil Fertility: When striving for higher yields, soybean farmers need to ensure they have the available soil nutrients to achieve those yields or else all their careful planning and cultural practices will be for naught. Again, the Latham Seed-2-Soil program is invaluable in helping farmers achieve these goals. Soil sampling, field mapping and nutrient recommendations are just three of the many benefits members of this exclusive club can take advantage of.
6. Soybean Cyst Nematode: SCN is the number one pest of soybean fields in the United States.  You really can’t even begin to think about raising 80 bu/A or even 60 bu/A soybeans until you know exactly where your SCN populations are in each field.  Nematodes tend to cause the most damage in drier years where soil moisture is lacking and plants are already under severe stress. We haven’t had one of these years lately, and my fear is that many farmers will forget about managing their fields for SCN. Here again, soil sampling and careful variety selection are critical.
7. Crop Rotation: Many will argue this comment, but in my opinion, the corn-soybean crop rotation is still the most profitable practice for farmers over time. The long-term benefits of this rotation far outweigh the short-term successes of corn-on-corn or even beans-on-beans.
8. Scouting: Scouting your fields at least once a week is crucial. There will be times during the year when once a week isn’t often enough, and you might find yourself scouting fields every other day! Our Latham Seed-2-Soil experts can help in this aspect by giving advice on scouting techniques and procedures.
9. Inoculants: If soybeans haven’t been grown in a field for 4 or 5 years or if the soil is sandy, then inoculating the soybean seed should be seriously considered. Most fields in the Upper Midwest won’t require inoculants if they have been part of a corn-soybean rotation. Here again, scouting your fields and digging up plants to assure proper nodulation is crucial for achieving top-end yields.

More than 2,500 seed industry representatives recently gathered in Chicago for the 65^th Corn & Sorghum Seed Research Conference and 40^th Soybean Seed Research Conference (CSS 2010) to conduct business, share research findings, learn about the American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) and network.

As chairman of the Corn & Sorghum Committee, we’re excited to say that this year’s convention was a huge success, setting the record for attendance, as well as for exhibitors.  There were 116 exhibitors ranging from bag and treatment suppliers to robot manufacturers to software companies. In addition to the Seed Expo, the convention featured three days of educational sessions covering a multitude of topics from breeding for biofuels to plant composition and trait development.

Refuge-in-a-bag (RIB) products were a hot topic. Both farmers and seed companies alike are excited about new RIB products. As with anything brand new, however, there are still a lot of issues that must be dealt with behind the scenes. Fortunately, the seed industry works together better than most industries. We’ll work together to find the best ways to put RIB products into the bag and get the seed into the field.

The conference reinforced that the future of the seed industry is very promising, as it will play a vital role in helping feed a growing world population. Biotechnology must be used to help keep up with the growing demand, and there is a tremendous amount of new biotech traits that continue to hit the market every year. Because there are so many new products on the market, it’s our job as an independent seed company to help find those that offer the highest value for our customers.

Overall, CSS 2010 was a huge success.  It’s a great honor to serve as chairman of the Corn & Sorghum Division and to sit on the board of directors of the American Seed Trade Association.

Click here to read about the conference in ASTA News.

In a recent on-line conversation, a farmer wrote that his agronomist recommended planting offensive soybeans in better yielding zones and defensive varieties across hill tops and in poorly drained areas within the same field. He wondered if anyone else had tried this strategy and what they thought of it.

Another farmer commented that he thinks it’s better to find a good variety and plant it everywhere because everything does well on good ground and nothing does well on bad ground. Someone else wrote that they had purchased blended beans (two varieties in a bag) to help increase yields.

Since I definitely have an opinion on this topic – and research to back me up – I’ve decided to use today’s blog post as a means to share with you what we’ve seen work.

I definitely do NOT agree with the member who plants just the “good variety” on all of his ground. We’ve proven over and over again that soybeans like Latham® L2285R, L2635R and L3157R are much better suited to lighter soils (poorer ground) where their taller plant height and growthy characteristics are a definite advantage.

Blended Soybeans

We have customers who request blended soybeans, but to make this work, we take two soybean lines that are very close in maturity (for example, L2082R and L2085R). One is usually a defensive soybean and the other is an offensive one. Seed size is another consideration as the two varieties need to be to as close as possible in size.

Usually, blending works best when you have a problem within a certain area like Iron Chlorosis. Iron Chlorosis can be severe in parts of a field and not a problem at all in other parts of that same field. Blending two soybeans together – one that has great IDC tolerance and one that has average tolerance but is much higher yielding – has worked well in the areas where IDC is a problem. The IDC-tolerant bean will take over in areas where IDC is a problem; the more offensive bean yields better in those areas where it is not, thereby giving the farmer a higher average yield over his entire field.

Variable rate planting could work well in a similar situation but would be even more accurate as you can plant ALL of the IDC-tolerant soybeans in the tough spots and plant just the higher-yielding soybean variety in the other areas. Of course, Iron Chlorosis is just one example of the potential need for variable rate planting. Other possibilities would be planting your taller soybeans on the lighter soils (hills) and planting shorter (more offensive-minded) beans in the bottoms or better soils. You could even do something with SCN-infested areas.

There are lots of possibilities down the road with variable rate planting. And, that’s one thing we’ll be studying as part of Latham’s trademark Seed2Soil® program. Participants in our Seed2Soil program are using “Learning Blocks” to try and obtain the right populations for certain areas of the field, as well as to learn where to place offense and defensive varieties.