WEBINAR: Explaining the 100-Bushel Yield Gap
A few growers have broken 100-bushel soybean yields and the world record is 171 bushels. Yet for many growers, field yields remain in the 50 to 75-bushel range. So, what are the limiting factors why U.S. and Illinois yields are often below contest winners? Todd Steinacher, CCA, will explore why this gap exists and what factors in the life of a soybean plant determine final yield. Importance of Soybean Production Food ingredients Industrial products Sustainability and Profitability Gap is only important if it is profitable to grow 100 bushels per acre Build a budget to track and validate results [...]
Conservation Practices—A look at the Past and Present
Many of the farming practices that were used 50 plus years ago are now considered conservation practices. Longer crop rotations that included 4 – 5 different crops provided additional biodiversity above and below ground, which provided a longer period that the soil was protected by a living plant. Roots in the ground all year round is now considered one of the principles for improving soil health. Cover crops were used to help improve the soil and today growers are interseeding into an existing crop. Farmers a half century ago where dealing with smaller farms and more diversity. Field sizes [...]
Should You Feed Soybeans Amino Acid Supplements?
I received a question via my ILSoyAdvisor column about whether a grower should apply a cocktail of amino acids to soybeans to make sure there are no shortages. Many growers are interested in increasing soybean yield today, and with all the products available can we mimic what we do for human health to improve soybean health? Seems logical, but then soybeans aren’t mammals like we are. Amino acids are components of protein and all living organisms require proteins. In plants, proteins are either enzymes that drive critical metabolic functions or storage proteins that are important components in end products. [...]
Nominate a CCA for the 2019 Soybean Master Adviser Award
Do you know an experienced Certified Crop Adviser (CCA) who has a passion for soybean management? Nominate them for the annual Soybean Master Adviser award, presented by the Illinois Soybean Association (ISA) checkoff program. The award is part of ISA’s effort to recognize CCAs for their contribution to soybean production in Illinois. This is the third year the award has been given and CCA Kris Ehlers with Ehler Bros. was the first recipient. Any Illinois CCA whose certification is active and who is interested and involved in soybean management and works with growers can be nominated. The award will [...]
Is Your Fuel Winter-Ready?
Postharvest is a good time to check your fuel storage system to avoid common issues and keep equipment running smoothly through cold winter months. Whether you are running biodiesel or standard diesel fuel, check storage tanks for water or other contaminants. Water is the most common source of fuel filter plugging issues in diesel engines during winter. When temperatures fall below 32 degrees, excess water in the tank can freeze and block the flow of fuel through the filter. A Bacon Bomb device is an easy and inexpensive way to retrieve a fuel sample from the tank bottom, where [...]
Maturity Group Considerations for Double-Crop Soybeans
Double-cropping soybeans after wheat lets a grower harvest three crops in two years. Recently, there has been a lot of interest in planting ultra-early wheats and harvesting at high moisture. This practice can enable growers to plant soybeans 5 to 10 days sooner and gain an addition bushel per acre per day in soybean yield. However, what is the right soybean maturity group (MG) to plant when double-cropped after wheat, barley or another crop? The general practice and rule of thumb has been to plant the same MG for double-crop soybeans as for full season soybeans. But is that [...]
Test Weight Matters in 2019
Test weight is important with corn because if it drops too low sellers are docked and buyers can even reject the grain. And corn with low test weight just doesn’t store that well. Iowa State University extension says, “By law, a “weight” bushel of corn is exactly 56 pounds, a soybean bushel is 60 pounds and a wheat bushel is 60 pounds, regardless of the test weight. Test weight is a general indicator of grain quality and higher test weight normally means higher quality grain.” What about test weight in soybeans? Should we concern ourselves with it? Earlier this [...]
Winter Annual Pressure Starts in Fall
If you are a no-till or strip-till grower you probably have experience dealing with winter annual weeds like chickweed and henbit. Winter annual weeds germinate in the fall and then finish their life cycle by flowering and making seed in early spring. The springs of 2016 and 2017 were bad years for winter annuals in Central Illinois. Remember all the “purple henbit fields” in late February and early March? We typically don’t see winter annual pressure in fields that are tilled in the fall, UNLESS that tillage takes place very early in the fall. If you made a tillage [...]
EPA Grants Extension for Dicamba Use
Originally published in Corn+Soybean Digest New formulations of dicamba for use as over-the-top sprays on tolerant crops will be in use at least through the 2020 season, thanks to a new ruling from EPA. In a Halloween decision, the agency extended registration for two years for use in cotton and soybeans. In its announcement, the agency said, “this decision was informed by extensive collaboration between EPA, the pesticide manufacturers, farmers, state regulators and other stakeholders.” There are label updates designed to add protection for off-target impact of dicamba use, a wide-ranging problem since the agency approved use of the [...]
PODCAST: A Look at 2018 Double-Crop Harvest
Description: Aaron Prins, sales agronomist with The Equity in Altamont, Illinois and 2018 CCA Soy Envoy, shares an update on the double-crop wheat and soybean harvest this season, challenges growers faced in southern Illinois, and what to expect or prepare for in 2019. Listen to the podcast here:
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