Among soybean farmers, there is also interest in these early planting dates. However, planting early in Ohio comes at a risk of imbibitional chilling and frost after emergence. In our NCSRP-funded ‘Boots on the Ground’ trial, we’ve looked at planting dates on-farm over the past three years. In 2020, one of the cooperating farmers near Columbus planted soybean the first week of April. Then, there was a freeze event in May. His soybean stand was reduced, but he attributed the overall survival of his soybean plants due to the rye cover crop in his field offering protection. The objectives of this project are to: 1) Examine soybean yield in “ultra early” planting situations (early April) through more normal planting dates of late April through May, 2) Examine the use of a winter rye cover crop to facilitate early soybean planting by removing soil moisture and protecting newly emerged soybean plants from adverse weather, and 3) disseminate results to Ohio farmers through extension networks.