Agri News, MN
02-13-07
Pedersen focuses attention on higher soybean yields
By Jean Caspers-Simmet
Agri News staff writer
WATERLOO, Iowa -- Palle Pedersen, Iowa State University Extension
soybean agronomist, is tired of farmers saying they can't grow decent yielding
soybeans.
Soybeans, he said at the recent ISU Extension Crop Advantage Conference at
Hawkeye Community College in Waterloo, have the genetic potential to yield 117
bushels per acre. While environmental conditions prevent varieties from fully
realizing genetic potential, fundamental management decisions provide the best
opportunity to maintain high yield.
"Many farmers are struggling to get soybean yields greater than 35 to 40 bushels
per acre and wonder if they should even grow soybeans," Pedersen said. "The
problems we have with soybeans are largely the result of an oversimplified
management system. We want to put the seeds in the ground, spray and
harvest. That works for corn, but it doesn't work for soybeans. We may have
simplified too much or got a little too lazy."
Scouting throughout the growing season is a must.
"It's not about input costs," Pedersen said. "There is no magic bullet. It's just
basic biology and the agronomic decisions have to be right."
Pedersen has conducted an extensive study of soybean yield potential at
multiple locations in Iowa. The research was funded through the checkoff and the
Iowa Soybean Association. His research is identifying current yield potential and
demonstrating how farmers are losing yield.
Tops on Pedersen's list of ways to improve yield is variety selection.
"You will make more money for every minute you spend on variety selection,"
Pedersen said.
He has seen one variety outyield another by as much as 50 percent in the same
field. Yield and defensive traits are the most important to focus on. He
recommends looking at the variety information obtained from independent variety
testing programs that have tested varieties in replicated trials at numerous
locations.
Soybean cyst nematode is the most yield-limiting pathogen in Iowa, Pedersen
said. Farmers need to test for it, and if they have it, manage it.