Kelly Robertson

In the Jerry Reed song “East Bound and Down” from the movie "Smokey and the Bandit" part of the chorus is “we have a long way to go and a short time to get there.” Well, that could be the theme for double-crop soybeans in 2019. I guess this whole cropping year so far could be a country song. It sure has had its challenges and they are far from over. The 2019 wheat harvest wasn’t an early or late crop, coming in about the middle of the harvest time frame for most farmers. However, persistent rainfall and wet [...]

Double-cropping soybeans can be a success with the right plan in mind. There are several things growers need to do to set themselves up for success when planting double-crop soybeans after wheat. First, ensure you get a good, even distribution of harvested materials as you cut wheat. Make sure to have a properly adjusted combine to manage the residue not only in the machine, but that it can evenly distribute that residue behind the machine. Good, even distribution of residue will help to ensure good seed to soil contact and good even emergence of soybeans Next, do a good [...]

Volunteer wheat is probably the number one potential weed problem in double-crop soybeans. Most often in double-crop soybeans herbicides are needed to control existing weeds prior to or at planting in wheat straw. Often there will be broadleaf weeds or some grasses growing by the time the soybeans are planted. This burndown application frequently is made with a paraquat or glyphosate chemical. However, it only controls the weeds present at the time of application. Later in the growing season, volunteer wheat can become an issue in double-crop soybeans. This usually occurs due to late-season rains causing wheat seed lost off the head [...]

It has been a very tough year down here in southern Illinois for all crops, but more so for double-crop beans. We can forget about those bumper, double-crop yields from a year ago. That probably will not repeat this year. If you have been receiving some rainfall, then things probably don’t look too bad. If not, then results are all over the board. I have heard of some silage being cut already, and crop insurance has estimated some of those corn fields at a 30 to 40 bushels average yield. Then on the flip side, I have seen double-crop [...]

Got your double-crop beans planted? What should you pay attention to next? As we move into the middle of July now is the time to pay special attention to your double-crop soybeans. July often is a critical time in the life of a double-crop soybean because of many factors.  And some of those factors can play havoc, not only with your double-crop beans this year, but also with the corn crop planted next year on those same acres. The biggest factor right now on the double-crops is the weather. In many places in Southern Illinois we are very hot [...]

Wheat harvest will be early this year, so now is the time to think about what soybeans varieties you want to double-crop after wheat. Historically, many farmers have thought of double-cropping soybeans after wheat as a gamble. Wheat harvest used to happen close to the first week of July and planting soybeans after that July harvest date was risky due to weather concerns and stand difficulties.  Before the advent of patented, protected varieties, many farmers just backed up to the grain bin and planted whatever seed they had left in storage. It was a gamble. However, after public non-GMO [...]

An unusual winter leads to the potential for an unusually early wheat harvest in 2017. With the mild, almost spring-like weather in January and February, the winter wheat crop is well ahead of its normal pace in development. Many expect some harvest activity early June. Others think that the harvest will not kick in to full swing until closer to mid-June. Regardless, in southern Illinois a lot of activity will be going on at once including spraying, soybean planting and side-dressing corn at the same time as harvesting wheat – a quadruple whammy! The great unknown right now is the yield potential [...]

With frequent spates of warm weather this winter, it’s been an unusual wheat growing year. Not long ago, growing wheat in southern Illinois seemed simple. Four major events marked the growing season: planting, nitrogen application sometime in January, another nitrogen application in late March or early April, and then harvest in late June or early July. As the saying goes, times were simpler then and the weather was more predictable. That process sure has changed over the years. We have added more trips across the field as we have learned more high-yield management techniques. Many farmers have a recipe [...]