Setting up your soybean crop for to the best possible start

By Dusty Sonnenberg, CCA, Field Leader, a project of the Ohio Soybean Council and Soybean check-off

Farmers across the state have begun planting soybeans as warmer weather and improved field conditions make it possible. From the moment a seed is planted, farmers aim to ensure the crop never has a bad day. The Beck’s Practical Farm Research Program (PFR) was developed in 1964 to provide comprehensive and practical agronomic research to help farmers make decisions to improve profitability. Of the top five management practices to implement that Beck’s identified in their PFR program, four of them occur at planting.

Planting date, seed treatments, row width, and seeding rate all were factors that farmers should consider as they prepare to go to the field.

In their planting date research, Becks has found that early planting is one of the most important factors driving high yields. Early planting increases the node count. In their 27-year, multi-location optimum planting study they looked at planting dates from mid-March through the end of June.… Continue reading