Production Blog

A Week of Growth

The test pattern in Bob Wieland's soybean field shows its closing ranks. (DTN photo by Pamela Smith)

LAURA, Ill. (DTN) -- The diamonds are beginning to disappear in Bob Wieland's field. The Laura, Illinois, grower is experimenting with different soybean planting patterns and it was a good week for growing.

Some readers asked that I keep them updated on the experiment. Wieland is testing several planting configurations. In this case, he replanted the field on a 30-degree angle. The picture that accompanies this blog post was taken Tuesday, June 2 -- six days after the photo we ran earlier this week.

P[L1] D[0x0] M[300x250] OOP[F] ADUNIT[] T[]

University of Illinois crop physiologist Fred Below ranks weather at the top of the list of his six secrets for soybean success. So far, Wieland is in a garden spot this season. Rains have been timely and scattered far enough apart to tend to the crop in a timely matter.

He was checking to make sure pre-emergence soybean herbicides were holding when I caught up with him this week. A few velvetleaf plants had broken through, but fields still appeared fairly clean. He did see some early "halo effect" from the use of ILeVo seed treatment, but it was confined to the cotyledons and the soybeans appeared to be recovering nicely.

Whether the new soybean patterns will improve yield is yet to be seen. Below has found a yield advantage to narrow rows (spacing ranks sixth on his list of important characteristics). His 20-inch row plots have yielded an average 2.1 bushels per acre more than 30-inch rows, and as much as 6.5 bushels per acre more in northern sites. He believes 20-inch rows also improve light interception while avoiding some of the white mold problems seen in drilled beans.

I plan to keep an eye on this field this summer and fall and will let you know what's learned. These are the kind of diamonds this girl finds fascinating!

Pamela Smith can be reached at Pamela.smith@dtn.com

(AG)

P[] D[728x170] M[320x75] OOP[F] ADUNIT[] T[]
P[L2] D[728x90] M[320x50] OOP[F] ADUNIT[] T[]

Comments

To comment, please Log In or Join our Community .