Integrated Ag Services

Why do early planted soybeans tend to yield more & flower before the summer solstice?? This was a hot question yesterday for some reason... probably due to growers looking at the forecast & thinking they may not get any planting done until late April or early May. Simple answer: The sooner they start flowering, the longer they are in the reproductive stage. Chart below shows April 15th planted soybeans spend 52 days in reproduction vs 37 days for May 11th plant date. A plant can only make so much yield per day. The more days it is in reproductive stages, the more yield potential it can create. A few reasons: 1) Indeterminant soybeans are actually long night plants which require a certain night length to trigger reproduction. 2) Modern genetics in the same "maturity" group tend to flower "sooner" than varieties of the past. 3) Soybeans will start reproduction at certain physiological stages, I see typically V3-V4. 4) Warm weather accelerating growth stages also leads to early flowering. Planting delays doesn't mean we can't have strong soybean yields, it just means there is less room for other stresses during the growing season to achieve high yields. Check out this link from WI. ipcm.wisc.edu/blog/2018/06/t…

Corteva Disease model showing NE IA in the bullseye for every major disease. I will say I am please to date with fungicide performance keeping most of the disease below the ear leaf. This is the most southern rust I have seen in my 30 year career. Big difference is many acres get fungicide protection now compared to 10+ years ago.

2024 Key Agronomy Lesson #1: Drainage is the 1st Block of Pioneer Yield Pyramid! 2024 reminded us that "You pay for tile whether you have it or not!". Proper drainage allows for microbial activity, prevents massive nitrogen loss (most N is lost thru denitrification rather than tile lines), greater rooting depth, timely field operations, less disease such as root & crown rots & reduced erosion. Many 10-30 bu yield differences between tile lines. youtube.com/watch?v=9kOybhqT…

2024 Key Agronomy Lesson #2: WAY TOO MANY acres have pH issues that are drastically reducing nutrient availability. #2 block of Yield Pyramid. I still am seeing THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS of acres of soil test results in NE IA that have soil pH levels below 6.3 and many of those acres with soil pH levels in the 5's! Check out the chart to see how much "wasted" nutrition this causes. Be sure to use the Soil pH column to determine if you need lime. Use the Buffer pH column to determine who much to apply. Get this corrected yet before the 2025 planting season!! Call you local Pioneer Sales Rep with questions..

Age old question... what is the economic optimal corn harvest moisture?? Not many true studies out there that take in all the actual costs and losses in the field. I thought this one was interesting... The forecast looking like drying corn may not be an issue in another couple weeks!! precisionplanting.com/resour…

2023 Key Agron Lesson #8: Horizontal Tillage Layers In Drought Yield service calls w/horizontal tillage layers reduced root development past 4" Disk type tools along w/"vertical till" machines more disk than vertical till were most of the calls. B sure 2 get out of cab & eval