By Dusty Sonnenberg, CCA, Ohio Field Leader: a project of the Ohio Soybean Council and soybean checkoff
Adjusting management practices and optimizing soybean yields based on the planting date was the topic of a presentation by Manni Singh, Assistant Professor of Cropping Systems from Michigan State University at the Conservation Tillage Conference.
“We set the yield potential of soybeans when we plant them, and then we work the rest of the season to protect that yield potential,?? Singh said. “We manage the planting date, we manage insects, and we manage diseases.??
According to data collected by the Great Lakes Integrated Sciences and Assessments Center (GLISA), over the last 100 years, total rainfall has gone up by 11%. Of that rainfall, 37% occurs in heavy storm precipitation events.
“These extreme weather events in the spring cause poor field conditions and a variable planting window that farmers need to manage,?? Singh said.
