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5 Proven Ways To Increase Soybean
Yields
Ever since Kip Cullers, Purdy, MO, shocked the world
of agriculture with a 139.39-bu./acre soybean yield in 2006, others have
wondered how they might replicate the feat, or at least come close to
it. Yet, the average U.S. soybean grower reaped only about 40 bu./acre
last year, according to USDA.
Clearly, most soybean growers could benefit by taking a look at what
Cullers does to boost bean yields and consider what they could do
similarly on their own farms, says Greg Luce, Pioneer agronomist. “Kip
has a handful of things that he does uniquely to increase yields,”
says Luce. “The biggies are the frequency of irrigation, solid
fertility levels, a well-drained soil base, good genetics and the way he
protects the crop with fungicides and insecticides.”
For average farmers to have a chance at boosting yields anywhere nearly
as high as Cullers does, they would need to have the following, says
Luce:
- Irrigation. “There are a lot of people who irrigate
soybeans in different parts of the Midwest, but they don’t obtain the
yields that Kip does,” explains Luce. “Most soybean growers who use
irrigation typically avoid watering until pod-fill time or will water
only when conditions turn very dry. In comparison, Kip waters very
frequently at a very low volume (less than 1/3 in. or less) with
high-speed-motor pivots. The objective is to cool the plant canopy
during a hot day to lower the heat stress on the plant.”
- Fertile soils. “Kip’s soils are very productive, but they
are not naturally high in organic matter,” says Luce. “Over time,
Kip has built up a very good fertility base on his fields with the
application of poultry litter. In most of the Midwest, it’s very
common for growers to overlook the need for fertility on soybeans
compared to corn. For instance, potassium is a very big requirement for
soybeans to yield well, but many growers fail to supply it adequately
ahead of planting.”
- Good drainage. “Kip’s soils drain very well and don’t
easily become oversaturated,” notes Luce. “That’s especially
important with irrigation, but it can also be important on dryland acres
too, depending on annual rainfall levels.”
- Excellent varieties. In addition to the ability to yield
well, “Kip’s soybeans need to be resistant to diseases like white
mold, because he irrigates so frequently,” says Luce. “They also
need to be able to stand well, because they grow so tall and are heavy
with a high number of pods/plant.”
- Fungicide/insecticide applications. “Kip uses effective
seed treatments at planting and timely foliar applications when needed
throughout the growing season,” says Luce. “He is very attentive to
the crop and knowledgeable on how to protect it.”
Reducing plant stress is key to maximizing soybean yields on Cullers’
farm, emphasizes Luce. “Minimizing plant stress helps Kip to greatly
increase the number of pods/plant,” he says. “Typically, on
non-irrigated soybeans in the Midwest, 60-70% of the flowers on a
soybean plant never form a pod. On Kip’s farm, the percentage of
flower and early pod abortion is much lower.”
For more information from Pioneer about Kip Cullers’ soybean yields,
click here: www.pioneer.com.
For more information on soybean production from the Corn & Soybean
Digest, click here: cornandsoybeandigest.com/soybeans/.
By John Pocock
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Bean-Yield
Basics
Farmers who want to boost their yields to rival Kip
Cullers’ record levels would do well to take a close look at their own
soybeans first, says Emerson Nafziger, University of Illinois (U of I)
Extension agronomist.
For example, most soybean growers know their plant populations at
planting and their yields at harvest, but not a lot of details in
between. Some information that could be useful when trying to determine
how to boost yields in successive years would be final stand counts,
average pods/plant, seeds/pod, seeds/acre and seeds/bu.
According to Nafziger, the typical Corn Belt average for soybean
production might be:
- 100,000 productive plants/acre (higher populations will increase the
number of non-productive plants)
- 30 pods/plant
- 2.5 seeds per pod
- 7.5 million seeds/acre
- 165,000 seeds/bu. and
- 45 bu/acre yields.
“Keeping everything else the same but increasing the pod number/plant
from 30 to 40 would raise yields from average to good – from 45 to 60
bu./acre,” says Nafziger. “Raising any of the other yield components
within the same set of weather conditions is more difficult, because
those yield components tend to change to counteract changes in another
component. For example, fewer seeds set usually results in larger seeds.
In the end, yield reflects the number of seeds retained on the plant,
and filled successfully, by a complete crop canopy working well to the
end.
“Soybean crops fill seeds rapidly (with lags at the start and at the
finish), typically for an average of about 30-35 days,” adds Nafziger.
“We have measured daily yield increases as high as 4 bu./acre per day.
Kip Cullers seems to have found a way to put lots of seed on plants, but
he also keeps them filling at consistently higher rates and for longer
than normal. Our hope is that we can move yields in that direction,
starting first with increased seed numbers.”
For more information on increasing soybean yields from U of I’s
Nafziger, click here: agronomyday.cropsci.illinois.edu.
By John Pocock
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2009
Soybean Price Outlook
The rebound in soybean futures prices and the
continuation of a strong basis is giving producers an opportunity to
price a portion of the unsold 2008 crop, says Darrel Good, a University
of Illinois Extension marketing specialist.
“Decisions for the 2009 crop are more difficult,” notes Good.
“November futures are slightly above the spring price guarantee for
crop revenue insurance, so there is some downside risk for unpriced new
crop soybeans. That risk is small for the insured portion of the crop,
but greater for the uninsured portion.
“The real dilemma surrounding the pricing of the 2009 crop, however,
is associated with determining value in a rapidly changing economic
environment,” he adds.
Is economic recovery and demand strength imminent? Is the economy headed
for a period of rapid inflation, and how would that influence soybean
prices?
“Such uncertainty favors a marketing strategy of frequent, small
sales,” advises Good. “There is more than a year left to sell the
2009 crop.”
Good's comments result from a review of recent soybean prices. Soybean
futures contracts for the 2008 crop sunk to contract lows in early
December 2008, and the average spot cash price in central Illinois
dropped under $8/bu. Prices rallied sharply into early January 2009,
with the central Illinois cash price moving above $10. Prices collapsed
again in early March with the cash price dropping to about $8.35, but
rebounded sharply last week with the central Illinois spot cash bid
ending the week at $9.38.
“Much of last week's rally in prices was associated with higher energy
prices, a rally in financial markets, and a weaker U.S. dollar,” he
says. “These markets, in turn, were influenced by U.S. monetary policy
that ignited expectations of an upcoming period of rapid inflation in
the U.S. economy.
“Developments within the soybean complex also continue to be somewhat
supportive for soybean prices,” he adds.
To read more about Good’s soybean price outlook, click here: www.aces.uiuc.edu/news/stories/news4715.html.
Source: University of Illinois
Extension
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The Soybean
Road Less Traveled
While many farms grew more acres, Chambers Farms grew
new markets. Norm Chambers hasn't grown conventional soybeans since
1988. That's when he sent his first 20-ton container of food-grade
soybeans overseas to discerning Japanese buyers.
More than 125 years after his forefathers first settled his Corwith, IA,
homestead, he and son Jonathan also market their own Laura brand edible
soybeans to the health-conscious domestic market.
Chambers first developed contacts in Taiwan, Korea, Singapore and Japan
as an American Soybean Association (ASA) director involved in trade
development. “When the Japanese delegation was in the U.S., I invited
them to see our farm,” Chambers says. “They value the personal
business relationship, and seeing where and how their food is
grown.
“Fortunately, we had a Japanese foreign exchange student, Chiaki
Terada, living with us who helped me write Japanese e-mails and learn a
new culture,” he says. His first container of edible soybeans was
marketed under the Fairview Farms brand and was well received.
Over time, orders grew steadily to 250 containers a year. These days,
Chambers Farms averages about 50 containers annually due to increased
price pressure from other exporters selling to the Japanese market. He
sees no value in selling below a price that justifies his efforts.
Recently, a shortage of edible soybeans has surfaced, so things may
swing back the other way. To read more about Chambers and his efforts to
market food-grade soybean, click here: cornandsoybeandigest.com/marketing/0301-chambers-farms-grew-markets/.
By Susan Winsor
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Soybean
Farmers Protest In Argentina
Unrest in Argentina is again threatening to disrupt
the marketing of farm commodities, most notably soybeans and soybean
meal. Many farmers are refusing to sell grain or livestock because the
government refuses to lower the levy on soy exports. This battle was
fought a year ago and resulted in a slowdown for Argentine exports and
may have cost that country market share. Argentina is the No. 1 soybean
meal exporter in the world.
“Production is falling because we've got dismal agricultural policies
and things are going to get worse from now on,” says Eduardo Buzzi,
president of the Argentine Agrarian Federation. “Prices have fallen
but they wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't for the scourge of these export
taxes,” he adds.
Last week President Christina Fernandez offered to share $1.8 billion of
the soy tax with provincial and municipal governments each year. But
this move just infuriated farm organizations more because it was seen as
an attempt to buy public support. The situation is now being described
as a “climate of hate” between those involved in agriculture and the
Argentine government.
Editor’s note: Richard Brock, Corn & Soybean Digest's marketing
editor, is president of Brock Associates, a farm market advisory firm,
and publisher of The Brock Report. To read more articles from
Richard Brock, click here: cornandsoybeandigest.com/richardbrock/.
Source: Brock Associates
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Poor Convergence Performance Of CBOT Soybean
Futures Contracts
Poor convergence performance of CBOT corn, soybean,
and wheat futures contracts since late 2005 has been a major source of
concern to market participants, regulators and elected representatives
at the state and national levels. After careful review of available
evidence, it appears that recent storage rate changes for CBOT corn and
soybean contracts were sufficient to address convergence problems in
these two markets.
The corn and soybean delivery system is functionally sound at the
present time, because it is located within substantial commercial flows
of the commodities. Nonetheless, convergence performance for these two
markets should continue to be closely monitored, particularly in light
of the downward trend in corn and soybean shipments on the Illinois
River.
To read more CBOT grain commodity futures performance, click on the
following PDF Web link: www.farmdoc.uiuc.edu/marketing/morr/morr_09-02/MORR_09-02.pdf.
By Scott Irwin, Philip Garcia, Darrel Good and
Eugene Kunda, University of Illinois
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One And Done Corn/Soybean
Planting
Jeff Pape watches input costs like a hawk, pouring
over every nickel spent on his Dyersville, IA, no-till operation. That's
what drove him to figure out a way to cut back on not just tillage, but
fertilizer applications and planting, too.
“I was looking for a way to get fertilizer and planting down to one
pass,” says Pape, who farms 650 acres of his own ground and custom
farms 1,400 acres – half to soybeans, half to corn. Pape uses a
12-row, 30-in. planter, then later lowers interplant units for 15-in.
soybean rows.
Five years ago he traded his Kinze 3600 planter for a new Kinze 3650
with liquid tanks and started modifying it to solve his one-pass
dilemma. “I changed to IH depth wheels for compaction reasons, then
added John Deere nitrogen (N) coulters with depth wheels,” Pape
explains. “Then I put on Keeton seed firmers, Martin trash whippers
and spiked closing wheels, followed by drag chains that smooth out the
soil. I get excellent seed placement and seed-to-soil contact.”
To read more about Pape’s one-pass planting system, click here: cornandsoybeandigest.com/equipment/0301-pape-modified-planter/.
By Greg Lamp
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Outstanding
Soybean Seed Quality
The quality of the soybean seed we are about to plant
in the coming weeks is outstanding, in sharp contrast to the quality of
the seed we planted in 2008. Poor germination and vigor for a lot of
seed last year resulted in a significant amount of seed withheld or
removed from the seed sale pipeline.
This, coupled with extreme demand due to high soybean prices, resulted
in a shortage of good quality seed to be planted last year for many
varieties. Or so we thought. A common theme last year was, “We planted
9 seeds/ft. of row and we got 12 up.”
Seed size last year as a whole was extremely small. Seed size varies
from variety to variety due to genetics and from year to year due to the
environmental conditions in seed production fields. Soybean seed size
can vary from less than 2,000 seeds/lb. for large-seeded varieties to
greater than 4,000 seeds for small-seeded varieties.
Seed size, averaged across all varieties, is typically around 2,900
seeds/lb. Last year average seed size was around 3,400 seeds/lb.
Extremely small seed size last year resulted in planters dropping a lot
of doubles (i.e., dropping two seeds rather than one) because planter
plate cells picked up two seeds rather than one.
This resulted in some higher-than-desired plant populations and, coupled
with later-than-desired planting, some lodging in fields. Late planting
in late April through early May can result in excessive growth and
lodging potential, especially under irrigated conditions and when
planting on silt loam or light-textured soils.
Seed shortages last year also resulted in planting more seed than
desired in a lot of cases due to the risks of stand failures and knowing
there was very little seed available for replanting.
The above-mentioned scenarios — poor quality seed, seed shortages, and
small seed — will not be the case for this year’s soybean crop.
To read more about soybean seed quality this spring, click here: deltafarmpress.com/soybeans/Soy-Seed-0325/.
By Trey Koger, Delta Research and Extension
Center
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Take Part
In Corn & Soybean Digest Quick Poll
If you haven't already done so, 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: www.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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Want A
CSD Editor To Visit Your Farm?
When it’s time to get out to the field with your
newest crop production innovation, 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.
Source: Corn & Soybean Digest
Editors
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Obama Budget Breaks Contract With Farmers,
Say Senators
When the Obama administration’s fiscal 2010 budget
proposals reach Congress, the agricultural portion will likely face a
wall of bipartisan opposition.
Two senators – one from each party – have written a letter to Senate
Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad asking him to oppose any farm
program spending cuts or other attempts to reopen the 2008 Farm
Bill.
The letter, drafted by Arkansas Democrat Blanche Lincoln and Kansas
Republican Pat Roberts, was signed by four Democrats and 11 Republicans
representing states as diverse as Montana and Mississippi.
“The farm bill is a completely paid for, bipartisan product
representing two years of negotiations and tremendous sacrifice on the
part of production agriculture,” said Lincoln. “That agreement is
not even one year old as the administration proposes reopening those
portions that affect producers.”
Lincoln said she and other signers of the letter are willing to work to
pass a “responsible budget that cuts the deficit” without cutting
direct payments or making drastic changes in safety net programs such as
crop insurance.
To read more about efforts to preserve the 2008 Farm Bill from the
administration’s proposed changes, click here: deltafarmpress.com/legislative/budget-contract-0324/.
By Forrest Laws, Farm Press Editorial
Staff
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Biodiesel
Powers Railway
The world's first mountain-climbing cog railway has
added a B20-powered diesel to its fleet of steam engines. Operated since
1869, the historic Mt. Washington (N.H.) Cog Railway ascends the
6,288-ft. mountain, with a 20-37% grade.
The railway recently added a 12.5L six-cylinder JD Power Tech 6125H
B20-compatible diesel engine to its fleet of seven locomotives,
according to Diesel Progress magazine. Rising coal prices
prompted the historic railroad to add the Tier 2 engine to its fleet of
six coal-fired steam engines. The engine is rated 450 hp. At 2,100 rpm,
it has a maximum output power of 950 hp.
Of the railroad's three in-season daily 6-mile roundtrips up Mt.
Washington, one is B20-powered and the other two are coal-fired steam
engines. More than 80,000 passengers ride the railway annually, which
climbs New England's tallest mountain. When the railway's builder first
presented his idea of building a railroad up the steep peak to the New
Hampshire Legislature in the 1850s, they said that he “might as well
build a railway to the moon.”
Source: Corn & Soybean Digest
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Readers
Respond To Print or Video Question
In the March 12 issue of the Soybean E-Digest,
I asked readers to comment about the recent use of video links in the
newsletter. The response was split almost equally between those who
liked the video links and wanted to see more of them and those who
didn’t.
The following two comments represent several others who wanted to see
more video links used in the newsletter:
“I like your newsletter – articles are brief, but I know where I can
get more information,” writes Jerry Osterholt. “Adding more video
links would be great.”
Terry Stump, a reader from York, PA, agrees. “Videos certainly liven
up the newsletters a lot,” he writes.
Those who are against using more video links in the newsletter cite slow
internet connection as the main reason video links don’t work well for
them.
Based on these reader comments, I will keep the newsletter more
print-focused for the sake of subscribers who struggle with slow
internet service, but I will try to include at least one video link
every issue or so for subscribers who do like them.
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. 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. You can contact me (John Pocock) at: john.pocock@penton.com.
I look forward to hearing from you. Thanks for your readership, think
safety – and farm on!
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