More in Crops

Fred Below, professor of crop physiology, University of Illinois, and A.J. Woodyard, technical crop production specialist, BASF, shared their latest data about how farmers can nearly double their soybean yields with a comprehensive pest-management plan during an educational session, “Six Secrets of Soybeans Revealed,” at Commodity Classic....More

As a follow-up to my recent column, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments from attorneys for farmer Vernon Bowman, Monsanto and the Department of Justice on Feb. 19. Read the transcript (pdf)....More

Before he plants a single seed, Scott Rahn plans a foundation for top corn yields. He and brother Noel focus on field-by-field hybrid selection, crop rotation and seedbed preparation in their fields near Bingham Lake, in south-central Minnesota....More

While the drought ravaged many Midwestern corn fields in 2012, soybeans in many of those same areas broke yield records. Field averages of 70, 80 and 90 bu. with spikes well above that were reported throughout the upper Midwest. Extension crop specialists contacted by Corn & Soybean Digest credit the ever-resilient soybean's response to late-season rains. And to the role the hot dry weather played in reducing insect and disease pressure....More

Spring is almost here and most growers have started thinking about planting dates. Though planting corn early often results in higher yields, choosing the wrong planting date can have adverse effects on crop establishment. Planting corn early offers a number of potential benefits. For example, corn is more likely to flower sooner and escape yield-robbing effects of midsummer droughts....More

The South American soybean crop is still looking big. But drier-than-expected weather has some fearing Argentina’s production could be slowed, a sign that is helping bolster an “awfully strong soybeans market” for U.S. growers, says Dan O’Brien, Kansas State University grain marketing economist....More

Wade Kent is a researcher who put his money where his data is. When his research showed that narrow-row soybeans with normal inputs consistently produced the same results as 30-in. rows with the full dose of high-end inputs, he bought a narrow-row planter. “A narrow-row planter will give me a full canopy early and help maximize soybean yields.”...More

Your planting decision may already have been made and the seed ordered. Whether that is the case or not, will you be planting more corn? Corn is more profitable per acre than soybeans, and more profitable than most cropping rotations would average. However, agronomic problems with continuous corn have pushed many farmers to consider some spice in their life with a periodic change of crop. While such considerations will have an impact on farm budgets, what happens with the value of crops nationally when more corn is planted or when alternative cropping patterns arise? Your personal decision is part of a national trend whether you know it or not....More

Soybean seed size is influenced by both genetics and the environment. Genetic effects on seed size are largely predictable but weather conditions and their effects on seed size are not. Given the atypical growing season in 2012, it is important to understand the impact on soybean seed size and shape....More

The drought-reduced U.S. corn crop of 2012 suggested that corn prices might behave in a pattern generally described as “short crops have long tails,” says Darrel Good, a University of Illinois agricultural economist. “This phrase depicts the expectation of rapidly rising prices that peak near harvest time, decline in an unspecified pattern over the next several months, and return to pre-drought levels as early as the following marketing year. The decline in prices is expected as a result of a slowdown in consumption and a return to normal production.”...More

Keith Alverson and his family started to variable-rate plant in the 1990s, and now find benefit with the practice on every corn acre. He, his father Ron and uncle grow corn and soybeans on rolling land near Chester, S.D. In the early 1990s, they started reducing seeding rates manually in the dry corners of pivot-irrigated fields, where yield potential is always much lower. The practice cut seed costs by 25% in unwatered sections, and was especially beneficial in dry years, Alverson says....More