News

Early soybean planting more than a fad

An agronomist says he’s continuing to see farmers prioritizing planting soybeans ahead of corn.  

Brendan Bachmann, director of FS agronomy at GROWMARK, tells Brownfield…

“We have some pockets that planted straight for seven days.”  He says, “You know these early planting dates on soybeans, seed treatments and all the data that supports that early planting timing. There was a large majority of soybeans put in here in the central Illinois corridor and south.”

Western Indiana farmer Jason Brier has been planting soybeans early for nearly a decade.

“People say, oh, they’re just beans. We have time.”  He says, “Well, if you’re treating that bean like that, you’re losing out on yield. There’s a lot of data that shows that after April 20th, you’re losing a bushel an acre a day.”

Central Illinois farmer Derek Martin says…

“We plant all of our soybeans first and then our corn last.”  He says, “The one thing we have seen in our farm is our earlier maturity beans planted first have been our best beans, and our corn that’s been planted last has been our best corn.”

They all agree that planting into proper soil conditions is vital to having success with earlier planted soybeans.

USDA reports national soybean planting is 4% ahead of the five-year average, and Illinois soybean planting is 5% ahead of the average.  While national corn planting is just 2% ahead of the average, and Illinois corn planting is only 1% ahead of the average.