Agronomist: Soybeans Following Soybeans Are Risky

Jan 11, 2017
A lot more acres of soybeans are expected to be planted in the U.S. this year and that raises some management concerns. 
 
Shawn Conley, a state soybean specialist with the University of Wisconsin/Madison, tells Brownfield he understands why planting beans after beans will be happening, 
 
"This is no means a recommendation. I would prefer growers stick to their normal rotation, but given the short term challenges with profitability, I fully understand why growers are going to do this." 
 
Conley recommends growers stick with their traditional rotations on land they own and plant second year beans on rented land. He says four bushels per acre are lost on second year beans from a normal corn/soybean rotation. In the third year, he says, they are seven years off - and soil borne pathogens are the reason, 
 
"So growers should sample for soybean cyst nematode, but also look at getting a variety of good seed or a good disease package and make sure they protect that variety with a good seed package with the maximum fungicide AI rate, to make sure that they don't have some challenges with diseases, because we know they're going to be a big problem." 
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