Variety Selection

There are many considerations that go into planting a soybean crop: 1. Planting Date: In 2021, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) planting progress reports for Illinois continually showed that Illinois soybean producers were planting a larger percentage of soybean acres earlier than the previous year, and even the five-year average. 2. Seed Treatments: Since early planting has become a more widely accepted practice, many soybean producers are deciding to treat their soybeans from stresses associated with the soil, environment and opportunist critters. 3. Seeding Rates: Since Illinois soybean producers are planting earlier and using seed treatments, the trend for seeding rates [...]

With harvest upon us, there will be a lot of plot data circulating to showcase performances. It’s important to understand what type of data you’re looking at and how to interpret the information. A lot of times, people just want to see which products placed first, second or third in each plot. However, plot results are useless unless the winning information is incorporated into a larger data set. For example, if a farmer made their seeding decision for corn or soybeans based off the performance of a given plot, they are statistically taking on a higher level of risk. [...]

We all see plot data coming from every direction in the fall. You don’t have to look hard to find a mailbox full of plot data from universities, industry, third party testers, farm management agencies or even from your or your neighbors’ farm. There are so many ways to evaluate plot data, but for the purpose of this article I am going to focus on how plot data can help with placement decisions. What am I looking at? When evaluating plots for future utilization, it’s important to look at more than just who the winner was. Are the soil [...]

On a recent Illinois Soybean Association (ISA) trade mission I sat down with a soybean buyer in Bangkok, Thailand, anticipating a friendly and productive meeting. The buyer looked at me, and the first words out of her mouth were: “Why is the quality of your soybeans so low?” As soybean producers we have heard this question before, especially throughout southeast Asia in China, Taiwan and the Philippines. These Pacific Rim countries have an insatiable appetite for U.S. soybeans, but we must address their concerns about quality. A whopping 60 percent of soybeans produced in Illinois are exported. Quality is [...]

In the past 14 years I’ve worked in agriculture, I’d say no segment of the business has changed as rapidly as soybean seed treatments. At the beginning of my career, it wasn’t uncommon to have growers planting 180,000 – 240,000 untreated soybean seeds per acre to get a full stand of soybeans. Today, it’s common practice in my part of the state for planters to be set to drop 120,000 – 150,000 treated soybeans per acre and achieve better, healthier stands than ever. Seed treatments are 100% to thank for this shift in practices. So, what exactly is a [...]

A lot of time is spent by growers selecting seed for the coming year, determining proper field placement and managing agronomic decisions. Industry also spends a great deal of time producing ample high-quality seed. When it comes to validating what a grower is getting, it’s important to review the soybean seed tag for each soybean variety. Seed tags are a great resource for a grower to better understand what they are planting. For example, herbicide traits, seed treatment and the number of seeds/unit are all found on the tag. Regardless of how seed is delivered to a grower—by bagged [...]

Why does my soybean variety have “STS” or “SR” listed with it and what does it mean for my planting season? In 1994 sulfonylurea-tolerant soybeans (STS), then later sulfonylurea ready (SR), were introduced to help growers control troublesome broadleaf weeds. These STS or SR traits are native, non-GM traits, that make the soybean more tolerant to sulfonylurea herbicides. Sulfonylurea herbicides work by inhibiting the ALS (acetolactate synthase) enzyme, which plays an important role in forming necessary proteins for the plant’s growth and development. This causes the weed—or non-STS soybean plant—to starve because it cannot get the necessary proteins for [...]

It seems like nothing is simple anymore. After the introduction of glyphosate tolerant soybeans in the mid-1990s, herbicide applications where somewhat simplified. In recent years, with newer herbicide tolerant soybeans and the ever evolving weed resistant population, soybean herbicide operations are becoming increasingly complicated again. Before new herbicides are released into the commercial market, extensive research is completed to ensure optimum performance. It’s these trials that populate recommendation of State and Federal labels, such as wind speed, plant back restriction and application rates. For an herbicide to be effective against an emerged weed, a certain concentration of the active [...]

In modern production agriculture, research and agronomic trials have expanded beyond small strip trials and university research. Many producers are developing their own highly sophisticated on-farm research studies. Technology has come a long way in helping producers collect data from a yield monitor at harvest and upload that data wirelessly to computer software for processing. Several producers have partnered with CCAs or agronomists to help set up trials and to understand their findings. Below are some concepts to consider when developing on-farm research trials for the 2020 growing season. 1. What do you want to test? a. Soybean Variety [...]