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Early soybean planting could maximize yield potential
An agronomist with Golden Harvest says farmers might not be maximizing their soybean growing potential.
Adam Noellsch tells Brownfield farmers should think about planting their soybeans early.
“I’m talking earlier than May,” he said. “There’re a lot of people that have seen success the last several years planting in April.”
He said when soybeans are planted earlier, they have more time to put on nodes before flowering which increased yield potential.
Noellsch said historically, soybeans haven’t been a cold tolerant plant causing them to be planted later in the spring. But he says the crop is better equipped to handle the cold with the development of better varieties and seed treatments.
“These seed treatments are really helping protect the seed, protect the germination and get the plants going, whereas if you tried doing this 15 years ago, the varieties and the seed treatments available at that time may not have worked as well,” Noellsch said.
He said providing more space between soybean plants can also lead to higher yields and farmers should talk to their seed provider to find what planting strategy works best for them.
