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5 Most Economical Yield-Boosting Tips For
Soybeans
Farmers can improve their soybean yields without
turning to expensive inputs, says Jim Beuerlein, Ohio State University
(OSU) Extension soybean agronomist. The following is his top-five list
of economical ways to boost bean yields.
1. Check university performance trials and choose a top-yielding
soybean variety for your area. “Typically, university variety trials
only include a company’s very best genetics,” says Beuerlein. “If
you pick something that yields better than average in those trials,
you’ll likely end up with a variety that yields in the top 10-15%.”
2. Use a fungicide seed treatment. In areas where soils are
generally saturated during spring, which includes most of the eastern
Corn Belt, soybean growers almost always need to use a fungicide seed
treatment to avoid root rot diseases, says Beuerlein.
“A fungicide could be worth up to $100/acre if it saves you having to
replant,” he points out. “It only takes about ½ bu./acre to pay for
the treatment, and you almost always end up with a better stand in soils
that tend to dry out slowly. In wetter soils, using a fungicide at
planting could also allow you to cut back about 5-10% on your seeding
rate.”
3. Plant rhizobial inoculated seed. “Under normal growing
conditions, you can expect a 2+-bu./acre yield boost with rhizobial
inoculated seed, even on your best fields,” says Beuerlein.
“That’s the long-term average in Ohio over the past 14 growing
seasons in fields planted in a corn/soybean rotation – so that’s a
pretty reliable number.
“In some years, due to either extremely wet weather or hot, dry soils,
the bacteria won’t survive and you won’t get a yield boost,” he
adds. “However, in fields with soil pH levels below 6 or that have
been planted to continuous corn for several years, we’ve seen a yield
boost as high as 8-12 bu./acre.”
Growers might consider applying rhizobial inoculants on soybean seed
with a fungicide, but Beuerlein cautions farmers to check the label for
proper timing first. “With some fungicides the time period is up to
three weeks before planting and with others it’s only 24 hours,” he
says. “Generally, the closer you put the inoculants on the seed before
planting, the better the chances are that you won’t lose any
bacteria.”
4. Use a pre-emergence herbicide. “Some weeds, like giant
ragweed, are really tough to kill if you don’t take care of them
early,” explains Beuerlein. “Depending on the year, you may not have
to use a post application after applying a pre-emergence herbicide.
Other years, you might need one or two post applications – you just
need to react according to the weather and how quickly the crop canopy
develops.”
5. Harvest at 17-18% moisture. “Only bad things can happen to
the crop when it gets down to 17-18% moisture without being
harvested,” says Beuerlein. “If you can spread out the maturities of
your varieties so that you harvest at a little higher moisture level,
you won’t lose test weight or have shattering problems that could
cause yield loss.”
To read more soybean-production management tips from OSU, click here: agcrops.osu.edu/soybean/. For
more information on the potential benefits from soybean seed
inoculation, click here: farmindustrynews.com/seed/inoculants-better-than-years-0301/?smte=wl.
By John Pocock
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United
Soybean Board Seeks Applicants For Tour
The United Soybean Board (USB) and soybean checkoff
are pleased to announce the organization of a second annual See for
Yourself tour. The first tour last summer was a huge success in getting
U.S. soybean farmers acquainted with the operation of their checkoff
program.
“I really believe last year’s tour made a real positive impact on
the participants,” says Jim Stillman, a soybean farmer from
Emmetsburg, IA, and chair of the USB audit and evaluation committee,
which sponsors the tour. “It made them aware of the broad scope the
checkoff has.”
USB is looking for 10 soybean farmers who have little to no hands-on
experience with soybean checkoff programs to take this year’s tour,
July 13-18. Those who are interested can fill out an application at the
official soybean checkoff Web site at www.unitedsoybean.org.
Applications must be received by March 20.
The tour offers an excellent opportunity for soybean farmers to interact
with USB leadership, ask questions and provide their perspective on the
checkoff. With a start in St. Louis, participants will hear from the USB
chairman, CEO and executive director, as well as representatives of
every USB committee about how checkoff dollars are invested to increase
demand for U.S. soybeans.
After two days in St. Louis, the delegation heads to Mexico, which
trails only China for importing U.S. soybeans and is second to none in
soybean meal imports. To learn more about the tour and its itinerary,
click here: www.unitedsoybean.com/pressroom.
Source: United Soybean Board
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Record Year
Projected For U.S. Soybean Production
For soybeans, USDA analysts are projecting a record
year. They project a slight increase in planted area, to 77 million
acres, as other crops see reduced plantings. This would be a record
amount of land planted to soybeans. Much of the shift is attributed to
soybeans’ lower input costs.
As with corn, projected yields are 3 bu./acre higher than in 2008, based
on 1990-2008 trends. This puts U.S. soybean production at 3.24 billion
bushels, which would be a record. Domestic soybean crush is projected to
increase to 1.675 billion bushels, mainly based on higher expectations
for soybean meal exports. Soybean exports are also expected to set a
record, with 1.225 billion bushels leaving the country. But the growth
in production exceeds the growth in usage and ending stocks are expected
to climb to 380 million bushels. The 2009 season-average price for
soybeans is forecast at $8/bu.
To read more about corn and soybean markets and prices, visit the
following PDF Web link: www.econ.iastate.edu/outreach.pdf.
By Chad Hart, Iowa State University
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competitive edge in the world of soybean farming? Then, look no further
than the site that brings you all the breaking news about current
weather conditions, innovative new technologies and how to improve your
yields.
It’s your one-stop shop for the latest in soybean farming – unitedsoybean.org.
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FAPRI Projects Higher Commodity Prices Over
The Next Decade
Analysts with the Food and Agricultural Policy
Research Institute (FAPRI) briefed Congress last week on 2009
agricultural economic baseline projections. A key finding is that after
dramatic increases in the prices of most commodities in the last three
years, prices retreat in 2009 and 2010, but growing demand for food,
feed, and fuel is expected to return them to historically high levels
over the rest of the decade.
A widespread economic slowdown in 2009 weakens demand for agricultural
commodities and, coupled with the high carryover supply from the last
two years of high prices, depresses commodity prices in the short run.
However, world population growth, recovery in income growth and
bioenergy mandates drive prices back to their historic highs over the
rest of the decade.
The recent market turbulence in the advanced economies spreads and slows
world economic expansion in 2009. However, recovery is projected in
2010, with long-term real growth in world gross domestic product of 3.5%
reached by 2011.
To read more about FAPRI’s agricultural projections, click here: www.card.iastate.edu/about/news.
Source: Iowa State University
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USDA Sets
Date For Soybean Referendum Request
The USDA announced last week that it will offer
soybean producers the opportunity to request a referendum on the Soybean
Promotion and Research Order, as authorized under the Soybean Promotion,
Research, and Consumer Information Act.
The act requires the Secretary of Agriculture to conduct a request for
referendum every five years after the initial referendum, which was
conducted in 1994. The last request for referendum was conducted in
2004. Soybean producers who are interested in having a referendum to
determine whether to continue the soybean checkoff program are invited
to participate.
The request for referendum will be conducted at USDA's county Farm
Service Agency offices. To be eligible to participate, producers must
certify and provide documentation that shows that they produced soybeans
and paid an assessment on the soybeans during the period of Jan. 1,
2007, through Dec. 31, 2008.
Beginning May 4, 2009, and continuing through May 29, 2009, producers
may obtain a form by mail, fax or in person from the Farm Service Agency
county offices. Forms may also be obtained via the internet at: www.ams.usda.gov/lsmarketingprograms
during the same time period. Individual producers and other producer
entities may request a referendum at the county FSA office where their
administrative farm records are maintained. For the producer not
participating in FSA programs, the opportunity to request a referendum
will be provided at the county FSA office where the producer owns or
rents land. Completed forms and supporting documentation must be
returned to the appropriate county FSA office by fax or in person no
later than close of business May 29, 2009; or if returned by mail, must
be postmarked by midnight May 29, 2009, and received in the county FSA
office by close of business on June 5, 2009.
USDA will conduct a referendum if at least 10% of the nation’s 589,182
soybean producers support a referendum. Not more than one-fifth of the
producers who support having a referendum can be from any one state.
The soybean checkoff program is administered by a 68-member producer
board and is designed to expand uses of soybeans and soybean products in
domestic and foreign markets. The national program is financed by a
mandatory assessment of one-half of 1% of the net market price of
soybeans.
Source: USDA AMS
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Survey Shows Soybean Farmers Support Checkoff
Better than seven out of every 10 U.S. soybean farmers
continue to support their soybean checkoff, and more than three out of
four express familiarity with the details and specifics of the checkoff,
according to the most recent checkoff-funded producer attitudes survey.
The survey also finds that support for the checkoff is uniform across
the country.
“These survey numbers show the seriousness with which our dedicated
volunteer checkoff farmer-leaders take their responsibilities,” says
USB Chairman Chuck Myers. “The 50% share of national checkoff
collections from upward of 600,000 soybean farmers was at just over $67
million for 2008 and anticipated at just over $64 million for 2009. So
investing that money wisely and responsibly is our primary focus and
responsibility. I think feedback such as this survey is a strong
indication that farmers are comfortable with the work we’re doing on
their behalf.”
The producer attitudes survey is conducted independently and is a tool
for USB directors to guide their decisions on how to invest checkoff
dollars. Participants were asked questions about a broad range of
topics, including production solutions and innovations, new uses for
soy, support of the U.S. animal agriculture industry, international
marketing and, new to this survey, sustainability.
Among other findings of the survey:
- 86% say the checkoff has helped develop new uses for soy.
- 80% say the checkoff has helped expand or develop new international
markets for soy.
- 73% say the checkoff has helped develop advances or improvements in
production techniques.
- 64% say they remember receiving Beyond the Bean magazine, a 20-point
jump since 2006. Of those who recall receiving Beyond the
Bean,76% said the articles found there are at least as helpful as,
if not more helpful than, articles found in other agriculture-related
publications.
- 58% say they’ve made changes to their farm to make it more
sustainable.
Telephone interviews with 1,000 soybean producers across the U.S. were
conducted Feb. 8-25. A sample of this size produces a confidence
interval of +/- 3.1. For more information about USB and the soybean
checkoff, click here: www.unitedsoybean.org.
Source: United Soybean Board
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Specialty Grains Web Portal Available To
Soybean Growers
Soybean farmers who are still finalizing their
planting decisions for 2009 should check out a new Web portal, just
launched by the Midwest Shippers Association (MSA), to learn about
opportunities to contract to grow higher value specialty grains. The new
Web site can be viewed at: www.midwestshippers.com.
Producers can log on to the site and learn about the specialty grower
contracts available through MSA and a wealth of other information.
Viewers can also connect directly to MSA member processors, elevators
and exporting companies that work with growers and market a wide range
of identity-preserved (IP) specialty grains for international and
domestic markets.
These specialty grains include food grade, identity preserved soybeans
for tofu, natto and other Asian soy food uses and new, low-linolenic
special trait soybeans and more. These specialty grains often provide
growers with premium prices above the Chicago Board of Trade.
With support from the Minnesota Soybean Research and Promotion Council
and the North Dakota Soybean Council, MSA's new Web portal is designed
to serve as the network for the entire specialty grains industry in the
region. Links and information sections serve growers; seed suppliers;
processor traders; shipping, logistics and transportation suppliers for
export shipping; IP grain industry supplier firms; research
institutions; commodity organizations and state and federal agencies.
To read more about the new, specialty grains Web portal, click here: www.mnshippers.com/html/news.cfm?ID=1589.
Source: Midwest Shippers Association
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Management Decisions To Minimize Soil
Compaction
The most effective way to minimize soil compaction is
to avoid field operations when soil moisture is at or near field
capacity. Soil compaction will be less severe when soil tillage,
fertilizer applications and planting operations occur when the field is
dry.
Soil moisture can be determined using a hand ball test or observing a
soil ribbon test. To read more about how to conduct these soil moisture
tests, click here: www.ipm.iastate.edu/ipm/icm/2007/4-9/moisture.html.
Properly adjusted tire size and correct air pressure for the axle load
being carried is a second management tool. Larger tires with lower air
pressure allow for better flotation and reduce pressure on the soil
surface. Additionally, if larger tires are overinflated for the load
they carry, this will increase compaction on the soil.
A third management decision is to use the same wheel tracks to minimize
the amount of land traversed. Most damage occurs with the first pass of
the implement. Using controlled traffic patterns can be done effectively
by using implements that have matched wheel-tread configuration for soil
preparation, planting, row cultivation, spraying and harvesting.
Soil compaction can be a serious problem for farmers, but with proper
farm management, compaction can be minimized. Remember to hold off soil
tillage operations until soil conditions are drier than field capacity
and look into the benefits of conservation tillage systems.
To read more about compaction’s impact on row-crop production, consult
Iowa State University Extension publication PM 1901b –
Understanding and Managing Soil Compaction – Resource Conservation
Practices. This publication available online in a PDF format at: www.extension.iastate.edu/Publications.
To read a related article about how compaction squeezes yields, click
here: cornandsoybeandigest.com/ag-issues/0215-compaction-squeezes-yields/.
By Mahdi Al-Kaisi, Mark Hanna and Mark Licht,
Iowa State University
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Take Part In
Corn & Soybean Digest Quick Poll
Please take part in an anonymous Corn & Soybean
Digest (CSD) quick poll. The most recently posted question
is: What’s your machinery+labor cost/acre?
Answer the question and view quick poll results on CSD's home
page at: cornandsoybeandigest.com/.
(The poll question is just to the right of the “What’s New” top
section of the Web site.)
Source: Corn & Soybean Digest
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Brazil Columnist Talks About Global Farming
Operation
Tyler Bruch, columnist for Corn & Soybean
Digest, has been farming in Brazil for five years. Find out what
growth plans he has for the future and how he's now even expanded in
Ukraine. Bruch is aggressive and financially responsible in how
approaches his farming operations. “It's all about profit,” he says.
Click here to view the video: cornandsoybeandigest.com/tv/0304-Tyler-Bruch-farms/.
Source: Corn & Soybean Digest
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Soybean Oil
Reduces Carbon Footprint In Swine Barns
One of agriculture's most versatile crops – soybeans
– could one day play a role in combating climate change, Purdue
University research shows.
In addition to using soybeans in beverages, biofuels, lip balm, crayons,
candles and a host of other products, Purdue Agricultural Engineers Al
Heber and Jiqin Ni found that soybean oil reduces greenhouse gas
emissions when sprayed inside swine finishing barns.
Heber and Ni led a team of Purdue and University of Missouri researchers
in the yearlong project, which monitored the effectiveness of soybean
oil on dust and odor within hog facilities. Additional research is
needed to address problems with oil spraying and substantiate the
study's findings, the researchers say.
“This project provided baseline measurements of the greenhouse gas
contributions of swine finishing barns,” Heber says. “In addition to
the baseline measurements, we now have some data on an abatement
technology to reduce the carbon footprint contribution of a pound of
pork.”
In 2005, agricultural practices were responsible for 7.4% of total
greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S., according to the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency.
To read more about the use of soybean oil to reduce dust, odor and
greenhouse gases in hog facilities, click here: news.uns.purdue.edu/x/2009.
Source: Purdue University
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No Illegal Activity In Commodity Markets
During Last Several Years
An in-depth study of futures trading on several
commodity exchanges over the past three and one-half years has found no
illegal activity. But more so, it found that recent volatility in the
commodity markets was not the result of any group of traders or their
typical practices. The volatility stemmed from the bull market,
resulting from world demand and the low value of the dollar, but was not
a function of trading activity.
To read more about this topic, click here: www.farmgate.uiuc.edu/archive/2009.
By Stu Ellis, University of Illinois
Extension
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Is
President Obama's Honeymoon With Ag Over?
The honeymoon may not be over for President Obama and
major farm commodity groups – but they are having words.
During last’s week’s address to Congress and the nation, the
president proposed sweeping cuts to the farm safety net included in the
2008 Farm Bill. His $3.6 trillion proposed budget called for, among
other things: phasing out over a three-year period direct payments to
producers with sales revenue of more than $500,000 annually;
establishing a $250,000 commodity program payment limit; reducing crop
insurance funds by $5.2 billion over 10 years; and cutting Market Access
Program funds, which are used by the wheat industry and others to
promote sales of U.S. products by 20%.
At the recent Commodity Classic, David Cleavinger, president of the
National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) and a wheat producer from
Wildorado, TX, joined leaders from the National Corn Growers
Association, National Sorghum Producers and the American Soybean
Association in asserting dismay with the proposal in a statement to the
Obama administration.
To read more about the controversy, click here: cornandsoybeandigest.com/marketing/0302-Obama-cuts-farm-bill/.
By Larry Stalcup
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Want A
CSD Editor To Visit Your Farm?
When it’s time to get out to the field with your
newest crop production innovation, the Corn & Soybean Digest
(CSD) editors would like to be right there with you to see what
new or different ideas took shape during the winter. If you or someone
you know has built or modified machinery, we’d like to hear from you.
No idea is too big or too small. We’re interested in machinery
that’s been built from scratch, or several pieces of equipment that
have been torn down and re-assembled as a single unit, or simple
modifications to existing equipment. It’s always interesting to see
anhydrous ammonia applicators, planters, sprayers and tillage tools that
farmers have constructed to help them farm better, bigger or more
efficiently.
Also, we’re interested in any cost-cutting ideas that you’ve been
doing to stay profitable. For example, have you been involved in any
machinery sharing ventures, group input buying clubs or innovative
marketing channels?
We can’t promise that we’ll get to every farm, but we promise to
try. If you have an idea you’d like to share, please send an e-mail to
CSD@csdigest.com or call Managing
Editor Susan Winsor at (952) 851-4662, or click on the following link to
enter your project: insidepenton.com/research/sg/csd09shopproject.htm.
Thanks for your help,
The Editors, Corn & Soybean Digest.
Source: Corn & Soybean Digest
Editors
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Print or
Video?
The Corn & Soybean Digest has recently been
posting videos on various topics on its Web site. I sometimes provide
links to these videos in the Soybean E-Digest. For example, this
issue has a video link of an interview between Greg Lamp, CSD
editor, and Tyler Bunch, a CSD columnist who lives and farms in
Brazil.
My questions to readers is this: would you like me to include more video
links on topics related to soybeans or would you prefer that I continue
to keep the newsletter more print focused? Either way, I’d like to
hear from you.
When writing, please let me know your name, where you farm, what your
comment is and whether or not I have permission to use your comment in a
future Soybean E-Digest newsletter. As always, you're welcome to
write to me if you have concerns or questions about this newsletter or
have ideas on topics you’d like to see me write about for future
issues. You can contact me (John Pocock) at: john.pocock@penton.com.
I look forward to hearing from you. Thanks for your readership, think
spring – and farm on!
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