2021
A Day Late and a Dollar Short - Early Soybean Planting
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Contributor/Checkoff:
Kansas Soybean Commission
Category:
Sustainable Production
Keywords:
DiseaseField management Pest
Parent Project:
This is the first year of this project.
Lead Principal Investigator:
Vaishali Sharda, Kansas State University
Co-Principal Investigators:
Ignacio Ciampitti, Kansas State University
Project Code:
2102
Contributing Organization (Checkoff):
Kansas Soybean Commission
$33,606
Institution Funded:
Kansas State University
$33,606
Brief Project Summary:

Planting soybean after corn planting has been a general practice in Kansas. However, research findings in neighboring states have indicated that producers can profit from planting soybeans earlier. In northeast and north-central Kansas, planting dates are dependent on factors like soil moisture and soil temperature, which will be studied as a follow-up after obtaining preliminary results from this project. Given the research findings from neighboring states and understanding that dryland soybean yields are greatly influenced by weather patterns, it is imperative to explore earlier planting dates for better yield and profitability of soybeans in different parts of Kansas.

Key Benefactors:
farmers, agronomists, extension specialists

Information And Results
Project Deliverables

All project outcomes will be disseminated in diverse research and extension communication outlets to better educate Kansas soybean producers and agri-business professionals.

Final Project Results

Update:
To capture the variability of environmental factors, we planted soybeans at three planting dates spread nearly three weeks apart at two research sites. Two target populations of 100,000 and 150,000 seeds per acre and two varieties (late 2 and late 3 maturity) were chosen. All cultivars planted were glyphosate [N-(phosphonomethyl) glycine] resistant and the seeds were inoculated. Varieties with resistance to soybean cyst nematode and sudden death syndrome (SDS) were used. With a long-term goal of modeling the impact of different planting dates and environmental factors on soybean production, we recorded early season measurements and biomass samples and will record grain yield components – pod number, grain number per pod, and grain weight and yield at harvest - number of seeds produced/m2 and individual seed mass.

View uploaded report PDF file

Since this was year 1 of this multi-year trial there are no conclusive results on impact of early planting on end of season yield yet. We observed a lot of variability between sites, planting dates and populations. For the Scandia site, mid April planting date had highest grain yield components and the late 2 variety @150k produced the best end of season yield results. Distribution of yield with respect to planting date and plant population results are added in the file attached. We could observe impact of soil type as well as regional variation between the sites.

The United Soybean Research Retention policy will display final reports with the project once completed but working files will be purged after three years. And financial information after seven years. All pertinent information is in the final report or if you want more information, please contact the project lead at your state soybean organization or principal investigator listed on the project.