Three-legged stool of soybean yield musts

EL PASO, Ill. — A trio of nonnegotiables to achieve high-yielding soybeans were highlighted during the annual Central Illinois Becknology Day.

“The battle for soybean yield really comes down to three kinds of sub-battles,” said Matt Montgomery, Beck’s Hybrids agronomy education lead.

“It’s a battle for node count. It’s a battle to make sure we get the ground covered quickly. It’s also a battle to reduce pod attrition, because we lose a lot of pods out in the field naturally.

“One of the things that can definitely help us out with node counts, which means extra places to have pods, which means the potential for more yield, is by earlier planting. Notice, I say earlier, not earliest, and not early at all costs.

“We have some good data here for central Illinois that shows there’s actually a pretty broad window to get that crop in. Early matters, but we don’t need to necessarily make an effort to get in pre-April 1 for every acre. There might be reasons we do that, but things begin to crack a little bit when we look at odds when we go pre-April 1.

“We want to make sure that we keep in mind that window is wide. When we’re looking at good soil conditions when we go into planting, we can actually get the value out of that early planting.”

Row Width

Montgomery’s second nonnegotiable is row width.

For those in the market for a soybean planter, Montgomery said Beck’s Practical Farm Research has data that shows 15-inch rows outperform 30-inch rows on return on investment.

“We have some pretty good data that shows a variety of planting dates, a variety of seeding rate differences, and we still see an ROI advantage with 15-inch rows. So, if you’re investing in a soybean planter, invest in a 15-inch planter,” he recommended.

Seed Treatment

The third nonnegotiable for optimum soybean yields is using a seed treatment.

“We have narrower and narrower windows to work with to get a crop in the field. I talked a lot with people who want to increase our one-and-done potential. There’s so many things I have to get done. I want a planting pass to stick that first time so I can do the other important things that have to get done. There’s also a yield advantage to that,” Montgomery said.

“We see that across 20 years’ worth of looking at Escalate seed treatment. We see a benefit from having treated seed every time.

“We know that holds for planting early. That’s what really gives us the ability to plant earlier than we once did.

“We really think that also holds true when you’re talking even about double-crop beans. Double-crop beans are even in more of a battle for ground cover. So, let’s make sure that we get every plant out there, even in a double-crop situation, so we get that ground covered as fast as possible, reduce weed pressure and conserve moisture.”

Escalate Xseed

A “next-level” seed treatment is being rolled out for the next growing season.

“Escalate Xseed seed treatment that has Victrato in it, and that’s a really important ingredient in this battle against red crown rot that seems to be a battle that we fight more and more in the state,” Montgomery said.

Escalate Xseed amplifies Beck’s standard seed treatment with new technologies, enhanced protection and stronger plant performance. It provides advanced protection again nematodes, sudden death syndrome, red crown rot and white mold.

“We think that’s going to be a real important part to the systems approach to managing red crown rot,” Montgomery said.

“We want Victrato in those battle areas for red crown rot. We want a variety that seems to hold up well versus red crown rot.

“Nothing is resistant, but some varieties seem to hold off the disease later, and we want that in the mix, and then we have reason to think that reducing stressors in the field matters for red crown management, as well. Victrato is a really important part of that three-legged stool of those nonnegotiables.”