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Agronomist warns of soybean yield loss to low moisture
A Western Cornbelt agronomist says he’s seeing some yield loss from soybeans drying quicker than expected in the field.
“It’s just amazing how fast things can dry down once that soybean is mature,” said Dekalb Asgrow’s Kevin Keller.
Keller tells Brownfield some farmers are having a tough time harvesting soybeans fast enough.
“I think it always surprises guys how quickly soybeans can dry down and we see that most every year where we’re looking for that one soybean field or a couple soybean fields to finish on with a little more moisture,” Keller said.
And he said that loss of moisture is costly.
“On a high yielding crop, on soybeans, you know, we’re probably losing four bushels just going from 13 [percent moisture] to eight [percent moisture],” Keller said. “And that’s not even accounting for shatter on the ground.”
The Nebraska based agronomist says farmers should try and spread-out soybean maturities as much as possible during planting.
“Let’s say you go up a full group, so in my area, a 2.0 to a 3.0; you’re only talking about maybe nine or 10 days spread,” he said. “And most guys aren’t covering all their ground in nine or 10 days for soybean harvest.”
Keller said farmers should be thinking about what maturities worked best for them while harvesting.
