By Darren Hefty

There’s certainly an acreage shift brewing for 2015’s crop.  Corn acres seem certain to be going down, especially in the fringe areas.  Soybean acres are on the rise with some experts openly predicting that there could be more soybean acres than corn acres in the U.S.  I doubt that will happen, but I will say I can’t remember a time where more people have told me they intend to plant soybeans back onto last year’s soybean ground.  If you’re one of those people, I’ve got some great tips to help you succeed.  However, if you’re just planting soybeans in rotation like always, these are still valuable ideas on how to grow bigger yields in 2015.

  1. Seed Selection – This is key to your success.  Find a bean with tolerance to the biggest problems in your area like soybean cyst nematode (SCN), sudden death syndrome (SDS), phytophthora root rot (PRR), brown stem rot (BSR), etc.
  2. Fertility – Soybeans take a lot of fertility to be successful.  Now is not the time to skimp, if you want excellent yields.  The factor to consider is your return on investment (ROI).  Will the investment in fertilizer pay you back handsomely?  You’ll need a complete soil test to determine this.  My suggestion is two apps and one day.   Download the free Ag PhD Soil Test App and the Ag PhD Fertilizer Removal App.  Once you get the data from your farm, join us for a free Ag PhD Soils Clinic coming up in January and February.  We’ll teach you exactly what you need to know to turn around the soils on your farm, minimize your expenses, and invest your fertilizer dollars where they’ll do you the most good.
  3. Seed Treatment – The ROI on seed treatments like Acceleron and Dominance (with insecticide and multiple fungicides) has been been outstanding.  However, in continuous soybeans you should consider two more.  ILeVo from Bayer has been shown to greatly reduce SDS.  Bayer expects to receive a U.S. label for this exciting new product by the end of the year.  The other new one came out in 2014.  It’s the SCN fighter Clariva Complete.  If SCN is a big issue for you, the data looks very promising on this seed treatment that actually kills the nematodes.
  4. Weed Control – This is by far the biggest concern people have going into continuous soybeans.  Use three pre’s, including one of the yellows (Treflan, Sonalan, or Prowl) PLUS metribuzin PLUS one of the PPO’s (Valor or Authority).  If you do, weed control will be dramatically less challenging.  Post-emerge, use tankmix herbicides every time with Roundup OR switch to LibertyLink soybeans and use Liberty.  Either way, you need to spray the weeds when they are SMALL (4” tall or less).
  5. Disease Control – Take care of as many diseases as you can with varietal selection and seed treatments.  Also, plant continuous soybeans only on well-drained and well-managed ground to minimize problems.  Foliar fungicides should be used as often as necessary.  However, they must be used before the disease shows up in order to be the most effective.  This really depends on where you are and what kind of disease pressure you typically face.  One application of a two mode of action fungicide at R3 (first pod) is usually sufficient, but not for sclerotinia white mold (SWM).  For SWM, I’d use Contans in the fall, if possible, to destroy as much of the sclerotia (seed for white mold) as possible.  Then, I’d use Cobra with my first application of weed control post-emerge.  Finally, I’d spray Domark at R1 (first bloom) and R3 (first pod).
  6. Insect Control – Whenever you get out of a crop rotation, there’s great potential for insect problems.  Scout regularly and treat early before a bug infestation gets out of hand.  Rotate modes of action.  Remember that products like Silencer only run $2 per acre for the full rate, so they are very inexpensive.
  7. Planting Date – You need to plant early to maximize your yield potential, but choose those fields wisely.  In 2014, we saw lots of issues related to early planting and cold soils.  This happens about two out of ten years where we actually would have been better off waiting an extra week before planting.  On years where SDS is present, the later planted beans almost always fare better and have less SDS.

Continuous soybeans can be very successful.  Step up your crop management, be proactive rather than reactive, and ask lots of questions of your agronomist.