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May
5 , 2005
Soybean Planting
Trial Provides Production Advice
Soybean planting time
is near in North Dakota and farmers need to review their strategies for
establishing a 2005 crop successfully, a North Dakota State University
agronomy expert says.
A six-year soybean
planting trial that NDSU recently completed could help growers with those
plans, according to Greg Endres, an NDSU Extension Service area agronomist.
NDSU conducted the
trial to evaluate options for planting and establishing soybeans in central
North Dakota. The trial examined planting options that included row spacing,
planting rates and dates, and tillage systems. In addition, the trial
examined the performance of different varieties based on relative maturity.
Research agronomists Bob Henson, Mark Halvorson and Eric Eriksmoen conducted
the trial at the NDSU Carrington, Minot and Hettinger Research Extension
Centers.
Here are some highlights
of the trial:
- From 1999 to 2001,
soybeans grown at 6- or 7-inch row spacing (solid-seeded) averaged 5
percent greater yield than 18- or 21-inch rows, and 10 percent greater
yield than 30-inch rows. The trial was conducted four times from 2002
to 2004 at Carrington and Minot. Yield with 6- or 7-inch row spacing
averaged 4.6 bushels/acre, or 8 percent greater yield, compared with
12- or 14-inch rows. However, solid-seeded soybeans provided a statistically
significant yield advantage only half the time.
- During the 1999
to 2001 growing seasons, soybeans planted at 200,000 pure live seeds
(pls)/acre yielded 6 percent and 15 percent greater than yields with
the planting rates of 150,000 and 100,000 pls/acre, respectively. From
2002 to 2004 at Carrington and Minot, only one of four times the trial
was conducted showed a yield increase with 225,000 pls/acre, compared
with planting at 175,000 pls/acre.
- At Carrington
from 1999 to 2001, soybeans planted during mid-May (May 18 to 21) improved
yield an average of 2.3 bushels/acre, or 6 percent, compared with yield
from planting during the first week of June. Average yield with ‘Traill’
(0.0 relative maturity) declined 5 percent when planted late, while
yield with ‘Daksoy’ (00.5 relative maturity) was similar
between planting periods.
- From 2002 to 2004
at Carrington, soybeans planted from May 10 to 15 did not provide a
yield advantage, compared with planting 10 to 15 days later (May 20
to 30). Due to a more favorable soil environment for plant establishment,
soybeans planted during the last half of May generally resulted in less
time needed for stand establishment, greater plant density and similar
date of physiological maturity time, compared with the earlier planting
time. However, in one of three times the trial was conducted, ‘Barnes’
(0.3 relative maturity) had an 8 bushel/acre, or 19 percent, greater
yield when planted May 10, compared with May 20, while ‘Walsh’
(0.0 relative maturity) had a similar yield between planting dates.
- No-till soybean
yield was higher, compared with minimum till, at Minot and Hettinger
from 1999 to 2001. No-till soybeans averaged 25 bushels/acre, compared
with minimum till at 19 bushels/acre, for a 6-bushel or 25 percent yield
advantage with no-till soybeans. The no-till yield increase likely was
due to additional stored soil moisture available to the crop.
Endres says the trial
shows that reducing soybean row spacing provides a yield advantage, compared
with 30-inch rows, so soybean growers will have to examine advantages
and disadvantages when deciding on solid-seeded versus narrow-row spacings.
The trial results
also adequately confirm NDSU’s recommendation to establish 150,000
plants/acre, he says. He suggests that growers take plant counts after
the soybean crop has emerged to determine the optimum seeding rate for
their farm to achieve the recommended plant density consistently.
He says other recommendations
from the trial results include:
- Plant a soybean
variety with a relative maturity rating during mid-May
- Plant when soil
temperature is near or above 50 degrees and will stay that way following
planting to help establish an adequate plant stand
- Consider no-till
production in areas of the state that consistently struggle with adequate
soil moisture, especially during mid to late summer.
For more information
about the trial, contact the NDSU Carrington Research Extension Center
at (701) 652-2951 or recenter@ndsuext.nodak.edu. Contact your county or
area NDSU Extension Service office for recommendations on establishing
soybeans successfully.
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NDSU Agriculture Communication
Source: Greg
Endres, (701) 652-2951, gendres@ndsuext.nodak.edu
Editor: Ellen Crawford, (701) 231-5391, ecrawfor@ndsuext.nodak.edu
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