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Original article posted on Syngenta.com.

With current grain pricing and a strong potential for increased soybean acres, some growers are asking about management tips and strategies to consider when planting continuous soybean acres:

• Plant a different variety that was planted in the field last year - Every variety has a weakness and planting the same variety on the same acre two years in a row will further expose that weakness
• Be aware that pests threats may increase on continuous soybean acres
  • SCN will proliferate on back to back soybeans. Use multilevel control measures like SCN resistance and seed treatments like Clariva Complete Beans to control soybean cyst nematode spread
  • Disease pressure will increase. Be ready to scout for SDS, stem canker, Cercospora, and Septoria Brown Spot, and Sclerotinia White Mold. If SWM has been found in fields you manage, consider lowering seeding rates and planting in wide rows to aid air flow into the canopy helping to prevent SWM from taking over.
  • Insect threats may increase. Be ready to scout and control Bean Leaf Beetle, Stink Bug, and stem borers
  • Weed control - use a pre-emerge herbicide and multiple modes of action (pre & post) herbicides strategies
• Importance of soybean fertilization - Often growers rely on carryover fertilizer to help feed next year's bean crop. For continuous soybeans consider these fertilize demands on your soybean crop:

• Choose varieties with SCN resistance, strong SDS tolerance, strong standability, and consider utilizing alternative herbicide tolerance than what was used last year.
• Consider using both seed treatment fungicides and foliar fungicide applications to help manage Frogeye Leaf Spot as well as other yield robbing foliar diseases.
• Soil test, consider applying P & K to aid soybean growth and development
• From field studies, conducted by the University of Wisconsin, show a steady decline in yield the longer a given field is kept in a continuous soybean rotation. Disease, insect, and weed pressure impact yield performance the longer the continuous crop stays in place.