|
SW MN and Gold Canyon AZ | My 2 cents, you probably will not see much difference between 7, 10 , 15 or 20's, but there is a difference when you go to 30"s. I believe U of Mn has been doing 30 "s vs narrow for as long as I can remember. I do not recall seeing 30" ever beating narrow rows. I have been narrow row beans and have done side by sides for as long as I farmed and never seen 30"s beat my drills.
If you live in the northern states ,narrow will pay.
As far as white mold ,select varieties that handle that, don't go to 30 inch because of white mold and lower your yields.
One thing that was not discussed was the price of seed beans next year. Not to give anyone sticker shock but if futures stay in this TEENS area I'm sure 40$ would not be out of the question. Not sure though as it depends on the tech fee increase if there is any. This could sway more people to go to lower pops and 30 inch spacing. But a 3 bu increase in yield with narrow rows @ 12$ a bu pays for ALOT of seed. So don;t try to save 5$ on seed and give up 31$ of extra profit.
I went from a drill to 15" inch rows this year, knowing that 1. seed price increases would lower the value of my drill and 2. I could cut seeding rates from 175000 to 140000 and save some money.
I notice some of the really larger farmers buying 24 row or larger planters all on 30 inch spacing. I think there willing to give up yield to get done quicker. | |
|
15" vs 7.5" soybeans
