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When yield doesn’t measure up, what went wrong?

Soybean Watch: Here are questions to ask when you don’t get the yield you expect.

Tom J. Bechman, Midwest Crops Editor

October 11, 2024

5 Min Read
Combine in soybean field
TOO DRY? If soybeans are well below 13% moisture, data indicates you will wind up with fewer bushels in the grain tank and in the semitrailer. Tom J. Bechman

What happens if you combine your crop, and the yield monitor stays below your expectations? Is it time to throw in the towel? Or can you learn by asking questions about why yields fell short?

“Some of us may be in that situation since the last part of the season turned extremely dry,” says Steve Gauck, a regional agronomy manager for Beck’s, based near Greensburg, Ind. Beck’s sponsors Soybean Watch ’24.

One of Gauck’s roles is monitoring progress of the Soybean Watch ’24 field in south-central Indiana. It could yield better than many fields. “It has irrigation, and the grower used it judiciously,” Gauck says. “That could help bean size, which will be a big issue in some dryland fields.”

Tracking causes of low yield

Suppose your yields are OK, but lower than you hoped. Here are questions Gauck suggests asking to determine why:

How early did you plant? When Mother Nature allows it, Gauck notes that Beck’s Practical Farm Research data shows a marked advantage for planting from mid-April to mid-May. In Indiana alone, Shaun Casteel, Purdue Extension soybean specialist, says that from 2008 to 2018, soybeans were planted an average of 14 days behind corn. In 2018, that number moved to only four days behind, and according to USDA, is now only one and a half days behind. At the same time, the Indiana soybean crops broke the state record in 2018, 2020, 2021 and 2023.

Related:What attacked this soybean plant?

How much rain did you get in midseason? Some places got almost too much rain, but some areas missed out. “If you inspect plants before harvest, look at pods up and down the plant,” Gauck says. “If you find several two-bean pods in the middle, does it match up with a dry spell? Weather during the growing season can impact how plants develop.”

How much rain did you get late in the season? From mid- to late August until mid-September is a critical time for soybeans. “If you didn’t receive much rain, it may have led to some pod abortion and abortion of beans within pods,” Gauck says.

How big are individual soybeans? Are soybeans smaller than normal for that variety? “Individual seed size is a big factor in final yields,” Gauck says. “If the plant continues moving sugars from leaves and stems during late reproductive stages, you wind up with bigger beans. Interfering with that process because moisture is short can result in small seed size.”

Was it very dry at harvest? Did soybeans shatter? Did you lose dry weight? Some early soybeans were harvested at 10% or lower moisture. “Shattering losses increase as moisture drops,” Gauck says. “That is why some people aim to start at 14% moisture. Also, stems can stay green while pods and beans inside are dry. The greenish stem color may keep you from thinking beans are ready.”

Related:Have you seen these green soybean plants at harvest?

Casteel, writing in “Timely soybean harvest to save bushels” in the Sept. 13 edition of the Purdue Pest & Crop newsletter, notes that if a 75-bushel-per-acre crop at 13% moisture is harvested at 10% moisture, it becomes a 72.5-acre crop. That is the yield you see, and you don’t get lost bushels back, he says. Plus, that does not account for shattering at the head or losses out the back of the combine.

From the field: Looking back at the season
through the eyes of a Nebraska agronomist

by Trey Stephens

As the 2024 harvest season begins in southeast Nebraska, we have had many challenges to overcome, just like in any other year. This year, we saw an early planting window followed by plenty of rainfall. In some cases, there was too much rain in too short of a time frame.

This early start and heavy rains led to some decisions for farmers: Do I leave my spotty stand, or do I replant? Farmers chose both options depending upon their unique situation. As we progressed through May and June, we continued to see plentiful rainfall as we worked to get beans out of the ground and work toward canopy.

The benefit of these early rains was that irrigated acres did not have to start pivots to help activate herbicides, or even to get substantial growth in the early season. Of course, early rains helped dryland acres progress through early vegetative stages in a timely manner.

Too dry?

As midyear approached, dry weather developed in most parts of the region. This led to some negative outlooks on what yields might look like come fall. This drier part of the summer was helpful in the reduction of disease pressure and most insect pressure. No real issues arose except for dectes stem borer and fusarium wilt.

To our surprise, yields have been better than most would have thought. Dryland and irrigated fields have swapped back and forth in the beginning stages of harvest for which is yielding higher. Planting early has paid, and leaving lower-population stands that were able to compensate paid as well. I have heard many farmers say things like, “Wow, I never expected 70-bushel-per-acre dryland beans when my irrigated only averaged 50 bushel per acre last year.” Or, “These beans have been the most surprising and hardy bean crop in a while.”

I have heard of yields of 60 to 100 bushels per acre. It depends on the variety, planting type and environment. In my eyes, these yields are a big win for us in the region. My theory about these yields is that we had more soil moisture than we thought later in the season. Also, we must have had plenty of heavy dews that carried us to the finish line with soybeans.

Stephens is a field agronomist with Beck’s in southeast Nebraska. He participated in Soybean Watch ’24.

About the Author

Tom J. Bechman

Midwest Crops Editor, Farm Progress

Tom J. Bechman became the Midwest Crops editor at Farm Progress in 2024 after serving as editor of Indiana Prairie Farmer for 23 years. He joined Farm Progress in 1981 as a field editor, first writing stories to help farmers adjust to a difficult harvest after a tough weather year. His goal today is the same — writing stories that help farmers adjust to a changing environment in a profitable manner.

Bechman knows about Indiana agriculture because he grew up on a small dairy farm and worked with young farmers as a vocational agriculture teacher and FFA advisor before joining Farm Progress. He works closely with Purdue University specialists, Indiana Farm Bureau and commodity groups to cover cutting-edge issues affecting farmers. He specializes in writing crop stories with a focus on obtaining the highest and most economical yields possible.

Tom and his wife, Carla, have four children: Allison, Ashley, Daniel and Kayla, plus eight grandchildren. They raise produce for the food pantry and house 4-H animals for the grandkids on their small acreage near Franklin, Ind.

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