For Missouri soybean growers, this spring’s planting season felt a lot like a baseball game stuck in a rain delay. Despite an early lead with corn, soybeans fell far behind, as fields stayed too wet to work.

As heavy rain swept across the state, planting was at a standstill for nearly three weeks.

“We didn’t really get started back to beans until the last week of May,” says Mark Wieberg, senior research specialist for the MU Variety Testing Program.

But by early June, farmers finally found a dry window to plant, and Wieberg and his crew were soon back in action.

The 2024 soybean season in Missouri presented a wide variety of challenges and outcomes, because of weather conditions, weed control issues and regional differences in rainfall. Resulting soybean yields varied significantly across the state.

Here’s Wieberg’s breakdown of key findings and challenges faced during the season:

Replanting beans in the Southeast. The season began with a promising start for corn. However, soybean planting in southeast Missouri, which started in late April, faced serious setbacks because of adverse weather.

Heavy rains throughout May and a hailstorm in early June forced the replanting of half of the test locations. Wieberg says one field near Portageville required a second replanting after a hailstorm destroyed it the second week in June.

“That’s almost like a double-crop bean to farmers down there,” he adds. “That produced some lower yields.”

Weather’s role in season. Missouri experienced stark regional differences in rainfall, which affected yields.

“Going into August, the beans looked excellent across most of the state,” Wieberg says, “but the rain pretty much shut off in most areas.”

The exception was the Northwest region around Rockport, which fared the best due to catching more late-season rain. This helped fill out soybean pods and boost yields, with one Group 3 variety, Pioneer 38A28E, reaching 101.5 bushels per acre, while Group 4 variety Nutech 43N06E posted 96.8 bushels per acre.

Overall, the Group 4 plot average at Rockport was 86.8 bushels per acre, while Group 3 topped the average yield in the state at 90.4 bushels.

By contrast, Wieberg says southwest Missouri, hit by its third consecutive year of drought, suffered from low yields in the 30- to 40-bushels-per-acre range, about half of the state’s average yields.

The drought-impacted regions not only saw lower yields, but also smaller bean sizes, which reduced the overall yield potential. However, locations that caught sporadic rain in the North, such as Mooresville and Canton, saw larger beans and stronger yields as timely rain helped fill out the pods.

In Central regions and the Southeast, where rain was minimal, bean sizes were smaller, with yields typically in the mid-50s to mid-60s, about 10 to 15 bushels lower than potential levels.

Quality issues at harvest. Soybeans in southeast Missouri also faced quality issues because of replanting and late rains.

The hurricane season brought heavy rain to fields just before harvest, damaging some of the replant plots. These conditions led to seed discoloration and rot, particularly in later-planted fields.

“The quality on those were really bad,” Wieberg says.

However, he noted earlier-planted plots, which avoided the hurricane rains, produced better quality beans.

Looking ahead to 2025

Wieberg says the MU Variety Testing Program’s 2024 soybean trials show how different regions face unique challenges, and farmers can use the data to guide decisions for the coming season.

For instance, farmers in the Southwest may need to consider drought-resistant varieties or irrigation solutions, while those in the North may benefit from planting schedules that allow crops to catch late-season rains.

“It’s just a good farming practice to spread out your planting or maturities so you catch those potential rain patterns,” Wieberg adds. “You just never know where they are going to be.”

Armed with insights from the MU Variety Testing Program, farmers can go into the next season ready to learn from this year’s challenges and adjust their game plan to keep up with changing conditions.

Take a look at the top performing soybean varieties in this year’s trial by clicking on the slideshow. For more details and results from each location, visit varietytesting.missouri.edu/soybean.