It’s late June, but soybean planting is still underway in Ontario, and Horst Boehner, a soybean specialist with Ontario’s Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Agricultural Affairs, said this year has been one of those, as growers make a last-minute push to plant soybeans in the province’s wettest areas.
In this episode Real Agriculture Soybean SchoolBoehner reviews the yield potential of late planted soybeans and offers management tips to optimize yields at harvest: “The good news is there’s still a lot of potential left. That’s the great thing about soybeans. Our studies show that up to 90 percent of the total yield is still there.” Growers can expect to harvest 45 to 55 bushels per acre with soybeans planted in late June, provided they have favorable conditions and a good August for grain production.
In the video, Boehner takes a closer look at soybeans planted in May to demonstrate the potential for increased yields with an earlier planted crop. In this case, the plants already have five nodes per plant. Boehner points out that soybeans planted on June 20th can’t make up for the lost nodes and their ability to produce pods and seeds. Typically, a plant will produce 25 nodes, but the later planted crop will have closer to 20.
But there are management practices growers can use to put more nodes in the field and make up for losses. These include narrowing row widths and increasing seeding rates and plant densities. Boehner doesn’t advocate changing varieties to speed up maturity before crop insurance expires for his growing region; his research shows it’s better to stick with adapted varieties until that point.
As for row width, planting in 7.5-inch rows will maximize the number of nodes per acre. “When you plant later, the plants are physically shorter, so you can get more plants per acre,” says Boerner, who typically recommends a 10 percent density increase if you plant in early June and another 10 percent increase if you plant in late June.
Boehner also talks about considerations when fertilizing late planted crops and whether adding extra nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium can help boost yields. Check out the video below:
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