PODCAST: The Value of Planting Soybeans Early
CCA Soy Envoy Randy Niver joins the podcast this month to discuss why planting soybeans earlier in the spring supports higher yields at harvest. He also shares why it is important to protect the canopy throughout the growing season and ways to manage specific diseases. Listen to learn more. ILSoyAdvisor Podcasts · The Value of Planting Soybeans Early
Moisture Saturation and Oxygen Depravation
Many parts of the Central Illinois region have been hit with multiple inches of rain, causing several ponding issues. One observation we can easily see is when there is water on the surface. What is harder to see, and to realize, is when a field is fully saturated, but not showing water on the surface. Here’s an example. I was walking a field in early July, and it was certainly wet enough to require me to throw on my muck boots. The field was showing symptoms of water damage, but no standing water was present. As I walked out [...]
Do Nutrients Have Parkas?
Many have heard that pH affects nutrient availability in their soil or uptake by the plant. We try to have pH around 6.0 to 6.5 so as many nutrients as possible are in their maximum level of availability (see Figure 1). We’ve learned that managing pH can increase uptake and set the plant up for maximum yield potential. It’s possible to manage pH, but we can’t manage temperatures, so what do various temperatures do to this nutrient availability or uptake? Figure 1. Nutrient availability by pH. This graph shows how the different nutrients are available across various pH levels. [...]
Early Planting Soybean? Yield Increase Secret Unlocked!
Early planted soybeans are a hot topic and is the cheapest input to higher yields in soybeans, barring any replants, it costs nothing extra. In his March 21 blog, Risks and Rewards of Planting Soybean Early, Todd Steinacher did a fantastic job of going through the pros and cons to consider this practice on your operation. Let’s look at this from the plant’s point of view to see how and why early planting soybeans promotes higher yields. Many have seen the V and R stages in either the Illinois Crop Management handbook, Purdue Agronomy Guides, or your favorite agronomic outlet [...]
Murphy’s Law Applies to 2020
Most of us know Murphy’s Law: “Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.” As I write this article, I can see 2020 raising her hand, smiling and saying “Yep! That’s me!” Social issues, pandemics, major weather and environmental events, insects, disease, growth abnormalities, etc. Here’s my attempt at summarizing 2020 without saying “I’m ready for next year, it can’t be this bad,” as I did in 2019. To start the year, COVID-19 made an impact on pre-planting preparations and planting windows came early with some of the better soil conditions we have had the last couple of years. [...]
PODCAST: A Look Back at the 2020 Growing Season
Randy Niver, CCA Soy Envoy and Asgrow DEKALB Technical Agronomist, is on the podcast this month to review the 2020 soybean growing season. Listen to learn more. ILSoyAdvisor Podcasts · A Look Back at the 2020 Growing Season
What Am I Supposed To Do With All This Plot Data?
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 [...]
Soybean Agronomic Goal Setting, More Than A Resolution
Many make a resolution at the beginning of each year to somehow better themselves. Exercise more, eat less, stop smoking or make more time for friends and family, just to name a few. Most times those resolutions don’t last much through the first day, week or maybe month. There are many reasons why they don’t last, but one that seems to be said the most often is that there weren’t goals and benchmarks along the way. We all have goals in our production plans each year, yield goals mainly, but maybe also agronomic goals. Things like planting date, conditions, [...]
Did Frost Really Damage Your Soybeans?
Although some Disney characters love cold, I think it is safe to say soybeans are not always a fan. Let’s take a look at the symptomology of soybeans impacted by a hard frost and/or freeze and separate out the look-alikes. Scouting Though you may want to rush out before the frost is burned off or shortly after to assess damage, it may not be that quick and easy. In many cases damage from frost will not show up for 3-4 days after a frost has occurred. At the time of this article being written, the forecast for the next [...]
The Surprising Story of Soil Compaction Caused by Water
We’ve all seen water standing in low spots as we’re driving by fields, but why is the water there? Is there nowhere for the water to go, a clogged drainage tile, heavy traffic area, or could it be compaction from all that water? For the purpose of this article, let’s look at how compaction caused by standing water impacts soybean production. How does water create compaction? Porosity, the space between soil particles, can help us answer this question. In normal circumstances, water moves through the space between soil particles and drains away. If water is standing on the surface, [...]
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