Answers are from the Indiana certified crop adviser panel: Betsy Bower, Keystone Cooperative, Lafayette, Ind.; Jeff Nagel, Keystone Cooperative, Lafayette, Ind.; and Marty Park, Gutwein Seed Service, Rensselaer, Ind.

 

Our soybeans yielded OK but could have performed better. What are the two most important lessons I should have learned from the 2024 growing season?

 

Bower: When did you plant your soybeans? How was your stand following planting? Did you have any weather stress? How is your fertility? Are soil phosphorus, potassium and pH all in good shape? What pests might you have? How did you choose your soybean variety? Were you able to apply weed control in a timely manner? These situations all can affect whether you have a good year or a great year.

 

The first two things I think about are weather stress during the growing season, and pests, weeds, diseases and soybean cyst nematode. While southwestern Indiana had some rainfall throughout the season, there were dry times, especially during grain fill on later-maturing varieties. Many customers are indicating the early-planted, early-maturing varieties are much better than later-planted, later-maturing varieties.

 

We had several issues with soybeans early in the season as well. Soybean stands were not ideal. Although there were a few fields with stands nearing 90%, there were several fields at 50% to 60% of ideal stands.

 

 

This also was not the ideal spring regarding weed control. Controlling waterhemp was a challenge. In several areas, we got soybeans planted but did not get a good residual program applied before emergence. Fields with at least two modes of action against waterhemp were cleaner than one mode of action or a total post program. Getting ideal weed control with the post spray was a challenge with multiple sizes of waterhemp, from just emerged to 8 to 12 inches tall. Even with 95% control, the 5% not controlled still represented lots of weed escapes. Most added a residual layer to help control new waterhemp and grass, but rainfall may not have activated the layer until after some had emerged.

 

SCN can be a problem. Last spring, 65% of 135 random soil tests had a medium-to-high level of SCN, with potential yield loss depending on soil type from three to 15 bushels per acre.

 

Nagel: Timely rains still matter. Unfortunately, most of Indiana ended up with below-normal precipitation for August and September. Those months are critical for pod setting and seed filling. The most sensitive time for impact on yield is R4 to R6. One or two more timely rainfall events may have been the difference between OK beans and high-yielding beans.

 

The continued lack of rainfall into the fall also resulted in yield loss due to abnormally dry beans. Soybeans being harvested at 8% to 10% was common.

 

Intentional management is important. Today’s soybean varieties have high-yield potential. Weather is beyond our control, but variety selection, timely planting, nutrition and in-season management all help position the soybean crop to realize its yield potential. Farm operations focusing on managing the crop are seeing benefits.

 

Park: Rainfall timing is the most important factor in soybean yields. Most of northwest Indiana received a big dose of rainfall when Hurricane Beryl rolled through on July 9. Unfortunately, many areas only received 3 to 4 inches of rainfall after that event, until soybeans matured. So, a dry August and September caused pods to abort, soybeans within pods to abort and seed size to be small.

 

There were some areas that had white mold outbreaks again this year, but not as bad as last year. Growers will need to manage this disease for 2025, as there could be potential disease pressure in the fields from 2023. Proper variety selection, time of planting, populations, row width and timely fungicide application can help manage this disease.