As the combines roll through the fields on this 2021 harvest, there are certain issues that farmers will be watching for in their fields. When it comes to soybeans, producers are going to want to do everything they can to minimize losses in the fields due to shatter. With rain in the forecast for most of the second half of this week, the possibility for shatter increases. Soybeans can dry out and reabsorb moisture readily in the fields, and that can lead to pods becoming brittle. It also means that you must hit the nail on the head when you are trying to reach that moisture level of 13%. Too high, and you get penalized at the terminal. Too low, and you start to lose test weights.
Ryan Clayton is an agronomist for Pioneer, based in Dallas County. He says while the weather has been dry, and that lends itself to a quick dry down of the beans. Clayton has seen some moistures as low as ten percent. The dry conditions also allow farmers to get in the fields and quickly get the crop out. He is especially seeing this in the earlier group 2 soybeans. However, there is rain in the forecast and that can gum up the works.
Clayton says that so far, he hasn?t seen much more than a little head shatter in central Iowa fields. Farmers can combat these conditions by slowing down the bean head and going at an angle. If the heat that we have seen in the past few days follows behind these several days of rain in the forecast, that can change in a hurry.
Clayton says the field reports he has been getting on soybean fields in central Iowa have been surprisingly good. He says Pioneer?s LumiGEN? seed treatment has helped keep soybean disease pressure low. Otherwise, there just have been good conditions for the growth of soybeans. They seem to have gotten what they needed when they needed it.
To learn more about Pioneer seeds, see their lineup, or find a dealer, visit their website.
