By Darren Hefty

After a pretty tough drought year for many in 2012, some continuous corn growers are going back to a corn-soybean rotation on some of their acres.  If you’re one of those farmers, welcome back!  Whether it’s your first time raising soybeans or you’re an old pro, here are some of the newer things to watch for this year.

First of all, I’ll tell you about our farm.  The drought led to us achieving only about a two-thirds crop on corn, much better than some, but certainly not what we were hoping for.  However, we were very blessed as soybean producers in 2012 because we averaged close to 60 bushel soybeans on our farm.  Sure, we had a few fields that didn’t do as well as others, but for the most part it was the right weather for soybeans on our farm.  Here’s why:

  1. We had enough soil moisture to get the beans started.
  2. We had lots of sunlight, which soybeans really benefit from.
  3. Soybeans are more tolerant of heat than corn.
  4. Soybeans use much of their water and nutrients in the latter part of the summer once they reach the reproductive stages.  We got lucky and received some rain at the end of July and first part of August.
  5. Because the spring started a month earlier than normal and the weather was warm all summer, organic matter mineralization was greater than normal, meaning our soil provided more nutrients for soybeans than in a normal year.  Soybeans can take advantage of this because, again, they pull in most of their nutrients late in the year.
  6. A dry period during June and early July was actually a blessing because we had few insect and disease problems compared to a normal year.  Plus, on a personal note, we hardly had any mosquitoes all summer, which made scouting a much more pleasurable experience.

Will 2013 turn out to be a better growing year than 2012?  Who knows?  If you’re starting with drier soil conditions and little subsoil moisture, you do have a better shot of a soybean crop hanging in there and waiting for moisture than you likely do with corn, but that can obviously change in a hurry.

Picking the highest-yielding bean for your conditions is the most important thing.  My brother, Brian, likes to watch for the defensive qualities he needs before he looks at flat-out yield.  I agree with that unless you can manage the weaknesses of the variety with well-timed post-emerge treatments (Priaxor or another good fungicide for frogeye leaf spot or powdery mildew), a seed treatment (like Inovate or Acceleron for pythium and rhizoctonia), or a planting time in-furrow application (like GreenBean or SoyGreen for iron deficiency chlorosis).

NEMATODE RESISTANCE

One thing that can’t be managed post-emerge is soybean cyst nematodes.  Roundup Ready 2 Yield (RR2Y) soybeans have been widely accepted; and frankly, they’re hammering the Roundup 1’s still being sold by Pioneer and a number of regional companies.  The one weak link in the Roundup Ready 2 Yield platform has been a limited number of soybean cyst nematode (SCN) resistant varieties in the early group 1’s and late group 0’s.  This is finally being addressed with varieties coming out in 2013 and 2014.  Many of them also have very good IDC (iron deficiency chlorosis) tolerance for those areas of your fields where beans yellow due to high levels of nitrates and/or salts, as well as high pH soils.

NEW TRAITS AFFECTING CHOICES NOW

Both the Xtend (dicamba tolerant) and Enlist (2,4-D tolerant) programs will have their first releases coming up in 2014 and 2015.  If they are anything like other new traits that have launched in the past, it will take a few years to get varieties in all maturities and with all the characteristics you want.  Also, if you don’t need the option of using one of the new herbicides, you’ll want to prove it to yourself that the new traits yield as much or more than your current varieties before you switch.  For those reasons, if you have beans that are performing very well this year, you may want to stick with that number for the next couple years if you can’t find something in the new traits that fits your needs.
Don’t think that I’m not excited about the new traits coming in the next couple of years.  I am really excited!  Many of the growers we work with are hungry for more weed control options in soybeans.  I’m just encouraging you to make the best decisions for YOUR farm.

LIBERTYLINK SOYBEANS

We’re seeing some pretty big jumps forward in performance with LibertyLink beans, especially since Stine has begun to breed more of their best genetics into the program.  If you’ve been happy with your LibertyLink soybeans or were thinking of planting some LibertyLink soybeans for the first time, the new numbers coming out in 2013 and 2014 are very good.

SUMMARY

2013 is a great year to plant soybeans, and this year holds extra excitement as seed stock for new traits, like Roundup Ready 2 Xtend, go into the ground.  Find the best, most aggressive beans for your land and go for your best yields ever this year!