ISU: What are your yields?
Agronomy | September 27, 2007
The combines are running hard and taking both soybeans and corn. I’d guess that better that 40-50% of the soybeans have been combined in my area. A few folks have taken the ends off from some corn fields and there is that occasional corn field that has been combined. Seed corn harvest must still be continuing — I saw semi’s delivering corn to the Monsanto plant near Boone yesterday. Hopefully the seed corn harvest is winding down.
I’ll let you tell me how yields have been, but the numbers I’ve heard have been pretty good. I’ve seen some tillage in my travels across central Iowa. It was a bit surprising to see one famer chisel plowing his soybean field. He was doing the whole field, not just the ends. I’m guessing that he has trouble getting the soybean residue through the field cultivator in the spring.
The big news has been all the sudden death syndrome (SDS) that farmers are finding in soybean fields. Yes, we knew there was significant SDS in fields but many of were taken back by just how much. The farmers I have visited with tell me that it’s disheartening to watch the yield monitor plummet when they hit an SDS spot in the field. One Wright County farmer told me that better than a third of his field was seriously affected by SDS. What can be done to reduce the SDS pressure? Remember that SDS is a soilborne fungus that is favored by cool, wet conditions. It won’t help to plow or chisel plow the field. Choose a soybean variety that has excellent resistance to SDS. Moderate to high populations of soybean cyst nematode are usually associated with SDS. Choosing a soybean variety with strong SCN resistance should help reduce SDS pressure. The final thing to do is to reduce the soil moisture in the field. Consider adding more tile to the field and try to keep soil compaction to a minimum.
Here’s a bit of trivia for you: SDS first occurred in Iowa in 1993 in Washington County. Dr. X. B. Yang took me to a field need just south of Story City the next year and showed me scattered plants infected with SDS.
During the past week I have been doing the final ratings on several plots. Have you ever taken a final soybean plant population? This can be an eye-opening experience. In 30-inch rows, measure off 8 feet 9 inches and count the soybean plants. Multiply the number of plants by 2,000 to get the soybean plant population. For 15-inch rows you still count the plants in 8 feet 9 inches but you only multiply by 1000 to get the plant population. I was surprised to see the many very small plants in that distance. Yes, the plants did have a few beans, but not very many. We all should remember Palle Pedersen’s recommendation that a final plant population of 100,000 plants is needed to obtain maximum yield. Where do your fields fall on the spectrum? Did you have enough plants? Too many?
Another fun task I’ve had this season is to rate corn fields for stalk rot. Some fields look very good; others are in real trouble. If you haven’t looked, I’d recommend that you do. The very best way to determine look for stalk rot is to split the lower stalks and look. The old “pinch test” is a quick way to determine how severe stalk rot is in your field. Our wet spring was a big contributor to this problem.
One final note: I was shocked to hear that we had three fatal farm accidents last week. I also heard that there was a fatal accident in Marshall County recently when a car pulled out in front of a grain truck. During this busy time, don’t forget to take time to be careful – please! Have a good and safe harvest season.
SOURCE: ISU’s John Holmes
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