FUNDED BY THE ILLINOIS SOYBEAN ASSOCIATION CHECKOFF PROGRAM.

2015

Agronomy: Variety Selection for Double-Crop Soybeans

  Sourcing quality seed—seed with the genetic potential to maximize production in a specific region, and adapted to modern management systems and other agronomic factors—is a very important consideration for all producers. While varietal considerations are usually high on the list of priorities for full-season crops, the importance of selecting soybean varieties for placement in double-crop situations does not always rank as highly on the seed selection radar. Reasons for this might result from a combination of factors such as a limited amount of double-crop acres the producer intends to plant in comparison to total soybean acres, limited variety testing [...]

By |December 30, 2015|

Plant and Soil Health: Year of Soil Coming to an End

We will soon be leaving 2015 behind us. As a reminder, 2015 has been the International Year of Soil. It is a tribute to our greatest natural resource that provides most of the food we eat. I believe the next decade will be dedicated to building soil health to improve that national resource. To ensure that, on December 3, 2015 the Soil Health Institute (SHI) was launched. The SHI is an association dedicated to protecting the health of this important resource. It will bring stakeholders together to have a dialogue, lead the direction of research, foster education and communications and [...]

By |December 29, 2015|

Agronomy: 2015 ILSoyAdvisor Webinar Series

Soybean experts shared their knowledge and insight throughout the year to help Illinois soybean farmers improve their bottom line. Find all of the webinars posted in 2015 below: January: Six Secrets of Soybean Success March: Nutrient Planning and Soybean Management March: Achieving Profitability in Challenging Grain Markets in 2015 March: Managing SDS With Proven Strategies and New Tools April: Making Soybeans More Than A Rotational Crop For Corn May: Game-Changing Technology Coming to Agriculture May: Making Soil Health Practical for Fertility Management June: Highlights Oomycetes' Role in Rot Resistance July: Reducing Nutrient Loss from Farmland September: Implementing the 4Rs [...]

By |December 23, 2015|

Agronomy: Soybeans: Responses to Nitrogen Unpredictable

Do soybeans need supplemental nitrogen? Will they ever respond if you apply fertilizer nitrogen? To apply or not apply nitrogen on soybeans is a question being asked by agronomists and farmers alike. So farmers and their teams—if they are agronomists—are doing their own testing to satisfy their curiosity. Roundtables and conferences on this topic have concluded a couple things: Soybeans require a lot of nitrogen, 4 to 5 lbs. per bushel of yield Yield responses are inconsistent and unpredictable Applying nitrogen is an environmental risk Researchers continue to explore the practice and try to understand when soybeans need nitrogen, when [...]

By |December 21, 2015|

Agronomy: Growing Continuous Beans: Disease Risk

Some growers will decide to plant back to back soybeans because of recent grain market outlooks. Most sources say that if a grower chooses to go with a continuous soybean rotation, they should expect potential yield losses between 5 to 20% compared to a corn after soybean rotation. This yield loss gradually increases, the longer a field is planted back to only soybeans. However, some Illinois research revealed that yield loss was not as high as expected in some field situations. If you choose to grow soybeans after soybeans, the days of “planting soybeans and forgetting them” are over. A [...]

By |December 16, 2015|

Agronomy: Growing Continuous Beans: Cover Crops

Planting cover crops can lessen the risk of yield drag on second-year soybeans, and planting them after soybean harvest gives you an opportunity to plant earlier in the fall and into low residue and good soil conditions. There is some interest in growing more soybeans and even planting some fields back to second-year soybeans. There is some risk of yield drag (4 to 5%), so growers interested in this rotation need to plant soybeans back into their better, well-drained fields; select varieties with good disease resistance and seedling vigor; and treat the seed with a full seed treatment package. Soil [...]

By |December 14, 2015|

PODCAST: Harvest Report from Central Illinois

Despite low expectations, many growers saw above average yields this season, usually between 50 and 70 bu/ac. Lance Tarochione, CCA, provides an in-depth explanation of what producers saw this year and gives his insight on how farmers managed to grow high-yielding soybeans despite all of the factors working against them. He also reminds producers to plant early and have a strong weed control program in place for 2016. Launch audio >>>

By |December 11, 2015|

WEBINAR: Lessons from a Surprising Season

Emerson Nafziger, Ph.D., professor of crop sciences and extension agronomist at the University of Illinois, highlights the weather patterns that producers saw throughout Illinois and the corresponding effect it had on plant growth and yield. He also speaks about the research conducted at the University of Illinois on various growing factors including tillage, crop rotation, nitrogen applications and row spacing.   Key Takeaways: The rotation trend has been moving back to the more normal fifty-fifty corn/soybean rotation The corn-to-soybeans yield ratio has been running as much as 3.5 – 4.0 to 1, but in the last 5 or 6 [...]

By |December 10, 2015|

Agronomy: Recent Rapid Increases in Soybean Yields Attributed to Technology and Technical Backing

Rapid increases in yield gains in soybeans are attributed to technology, focus on better management and contributions from the army of CCAs across Illinois who help farmers better manage their crops. I started my career as an agronomist nearly 16 years ago. One comment I remember hearing often from farmers (many of whom had been farming longer than I’d been alive) was that they felt like they just couldn’t get any more yield out of their soybean acres. In fact, there seemed to be an overwhelming sense among these farmers that there had been no yield gains in decades. Although [...]

By |December 9, 2015|

Agronomy: Growing Continuous Beans: Are They Profitable?

With today’s soybean yield expectations, will planting some fields back to soybeans be more profitable than planting a field back to corn? Just might be so! Is 2016 the year to grow more soybeans in rotation? Perhaps go back to a fifty-fifty corn soybean rotation or actually plant soybeans back into a field after a previous soybean crop? Emerson Nafziger, agronomist at the University of Illinois, stated in a webinar hosted by ILSoyAdvisor on December 1 that the corn-to-soybean yield ratio has been narrowing, moving closer to 3 to 1. At this ratio, growing soybeans is as profitable as growing [...]

By |December 8, 2015|
Go to Top