Determining Optimal Soybean Seeding Rates

Adjusting soybean seeding rates based on plant survival rates, soil conditions and planting dates can reduce the risk of yield and profit losses due to suboptimal densities in a low-yield environment, while limiting higher seed costs, according to researchers at Kansas State Extension.

They use the formula above to calculate seeding rate. The researchers say typically about 80% of seeds will survive and become part of the final plant population. Once the rate is determined, identify yield potential for each environment in the field is a good practice to refine the soybean seeding rate.

No-Till Can Prevent Deadly Dust Storms

No-Till Legend and retired Ohio State University ag engineer Randall Reeder says it’s clear no-till and cover crops could have prevented a dust storm that led to a deadly 70-car pileup on Interstate 55 in central Illinois May 1.

“Some people would refer to this as the perfect storm, although I don’t think there’s anything perfect about it,” Reeder says in an interview on No-Till Farmer’s Conservation Ag Update broadcast news show. “It’s late spring. People are out tilling the ground. There’s a dry surface area, and suddenly extreme winds blow in the wrong direction. This situation doesn’t occur very often, probably no more than once every 15-20 years in a major corn producing state.”

Soybeans Yield Better in 15-Inch Rows

Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs soybean specialist Horst Bohner says Ontario research shows soybeans planted in 15-inch rows typically outyield soybeans…