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Hello from District 2.

How did your soybeans do this year? My high-yield soybean team had a lot of fun this year trying some new things to boost yields. One of the things we tried was biologicals. We applied microbes to soybean plants in the early R stages. As with every input we have tried in the past, we had mixed results. We saw everything from a negative 6.9 bushel per acre response, to a positive 6.5 bushel response, with the average of 1.5 bushel per acre increase over 8 plots. This is an area that certainly needs more testing before I could be convinced that this will give a return every year.

Aside from the plots that I walked throughout the season, I did notice a lot of other things going on throughout the year. For the most part, herbicides worked very well and weeds were not a major concern in this district. Most fields that experienced weed issues were ones where no residual herbicides were applied early.

I also noticed that there was quite a bit of fungicide applied this year to soybeans. In some of the side-by-side trials I was privy to, there seemed to be a 6 – 10 bushel advantage to applying fungicides. Fungicides also had a nice side benefit this year. As the last of the soybeans were coming over the scale at 9 percent and less moisture, those treated with a fungicide were able to hold that last percent or two of moisture and thus save a little shrink for the grower.

Corn yield reports are coming in hot and heavy now, and it seems more and more growers are wishing they had planted more soybeans this year. For whatever reason, soybeans were able to weather the weather just a little bit better than corn this year in District 2.

Jeff Keifer specializes in agronomic data and technology at the Elburn Cooperative Company. His job requires him to help his fellow sales team deliver agronomic and technological knowledge to their customers. Jeff is a 2001 graduate from the University of Wyoming with a degree in Agroecology and is glad to be back working in his home area.