At our first National No-Tillage Conference in 1993, Purdue Univ. ag economist Howard Doster suggested using two no-till planters to seed soybeans at the same time as no-till corn. Well ahead of his time, the now deceased educator would be amazed to see more farmers no-tilling soybeans before moving over to corn today.

With many farmers and educators recognizing that earlier planting pays dividends, more no-tillers are starting with soybeans. And if you have two planters, maybe you should start both in your no-till soybean fields.

Why Did March Beans Do Well?

In a multi-year date-of-planting study, Ohio State Univ. soybean agronomist Laura Lindsay planted beans last spring on March 25 in the western area of the state. While the emerged beans got hit with a late April frost and the final stand count was only 42,000 plants per acre, a big surprise was that these thin-stand beans averaged 74 bushels per acre. The yield was nearly identical to soybeans planted between April 16 and May 24. And soybeans planted in the study on June 17 averaged 20 bushels per acre less than the March seeded beans.

Lindsay told Farm Progress editors that the late April freeze damage likely led to increased branching from the buds on the plants that survived, which led to more nodes, more pods and more yield. With cooler April temperatures, germination and emergence were delayed, meaning some plants likely didn’t emerge until after the frost. 

Since the beans were planted early, the growing season was longer. This provided more photosynthesis and better yield potential growth prior to senescence.

The study was started because earlier Ohio work shows the optimum planting date is the same for both soybeans and corn. The data shows corn loses an average of 1.25 bushels per day when planted in early May while soybeans lose ½ bushel per day. The goal was to determine which crop had the smallest yield penalty for late planting.

Two Planters, One Crop

In some situations, Univ. of Wisconsin soybean specialist Shawn Conley urges growers to no-till soybeans ahead of corn. In the upper Midwest, this would likely mean no-tilling soybeans in mid-April and starting with corn in late April.

While Doster back in the early 1900s suggested no-tillers with two no-till planters start to plant each crop at the same time, Conley suggests using both rigs to start with no-till soybeans.

Fall Soybean Planting?

Beck’s Hybrids has been studying a fall soybean system for the last 2 seasons and has noted potential advantages by planting a portion of the bean crop in October, November or even December.

More than two decades of PFR research data has shown soybeans planted in April or early May tend to yield better. So a finely tuned fall soybean system could reduce or eliminate late-planted soybean fields, reduce spring labor crunches and still pick up yield.

Beck’s researchers have been using a proprietary coating not commercially available yet on the soybean seeds to keep moisture away during the winter so the seed doesn’t rot. Spring heating and moisture breaks down the coating so the seed germinates at the optimal time.

The major reason to plant soybeans in fall has to do with sunlight, says Scott Dickey, a regional agronomy manager for Beck’s who works in Nebraska, Kansas and Missouri. The highest quality and quantity of light occurring in the summer is June 21, “so think about the depth of atmosphere that light must penetrate when it’s directly overhead versus when it starts getting lower and lower on the horizon every day,” he says. “In August we lose, in this latitude, 70 to 80 minutes of light per day. The sun is having to travel further to get across our horizon. There’s just more energy earlier in the summer.”

Planting seed-protected beans from October 26-December 14 in 2024 at Beck’s demonstrated earlier emergence and more spring growth, although inconsistent stands and winter injury are a major worry. Results with beans planted last fall anywhere from October 26-December 14 produced yields of 67.6 bushels compared with 67.1 bushels with beans planted in mid-May.

Tony Uthell, a technician with Beck’s Practical Farm Research program, said conducting the fall-soybean study this year was also a struggle due to poor emergence, possibly because of the commercial-level seed treating that was used instead of treating the seed in smaller batches.

So at our first National No-Tillage Conference three decades ago, it appears Howard Doster was ahead of his time when it came to getting no-tilled soybeans into the ground.

For more on no-tilling soybeans in the fall, check out David Savage’s work from the mid 1990s: “No-Tilling Soybeans at Thanksgiving — 25 Years Ahead of It’s Time”.