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Northwest Ohio | I think the keys to growing high yieldind soybeans is:
1) stop treating them as a second crop & give them the attention they deserve
2) proper genetics & seeding rate for your area / soil type
3) plant them earlier so they flower & make seed during less heat / drought stress time of year
4) promote root & nodule health throught the crops life. Premature root - nodule death is why seeds don't reach their maximum size.
It is proven that a bushel of beans needs 5# of nitrogen. The soil can only provide a fraction of that, the rest has to come from the nodules. So root - nodule health is imperative!
5) must eliminate - reduce crop stress from beginning to end
6) need adequate amount of auxin at the nodes during flowering
7) need to extend the seed filling period as long as possible, this is what makes seed weight & seed weight is the key to high yielding beans!
8) in order to have maximum seed weight the plant must produce the maximum amount of sugars then move the sugars into the seeds.
9) applications of gibberillic acid after the R-5 growth stage can help to increase seed size
10) the roots are the brains of the plant - the key to high yields depends on keeping them alive & functional as long as possible
How do we do all this you ask? If I knew all the answers I would'nt be here blogging! There are many tools out ther to achieve these things. It will take a multipronged attack of multiple practices & products to solve this mystery. In my area this year soybeans yielded at record levels. Many guys averaged 60-80 bushels without doing anything different. The weather was the 4th hottest in history & predominant drought conditions during the 1st 3/4 of the crop cycle. Cooler weather & some light rainfalls in the finishing stages made the crop here. So why the record yields?
I can tell you that due to the dry soils, the root systems were very large & deep as they had to keep up with falling soil moisture levels. Nodules were plentiful on these massive root systems & they stayed pink thru august & september. All these nodules made lots of nitrogen as the plants looked very dark green during flowering. High nitrogen promotes adequate auxins at the plant nodes during pollenation. These dark green leafed plants were photosynthesis making monsters this year, making sugars at break neck speed. The cooler temperatures and rains that we experienced in the grain filling period helped to keep the plant roots alive longer allowing all of these sugars to move to the seed like they are supposed to. At harvest our seed size & weight was amazing. I was hearing this from many growers who were expecting & talking about BB sized bean seed a month earlier! The Perfect Storm?? | |
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What's New In High Yield Soybeans?
