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Farmer aiming to boost soybean production

A Midwestern farmer is fine-tuning his soybean growing strategy.

Western Missouri’s Cody Brock said he keeps targeting earlier soybean planting dates because of its hardiness in cool, wet soils.

Brock said he started planting soybeans in April, a week ahead of corn which is unusual for his area. But he tells Brownfield some loss from early planting could actually mean better production.

“They’ll compensate if you do end up with a thinner stand in places,” he said. “And heck, a lot of our seed dealers are even telling us to back off our soybean population. Based on what they’ve seen in their research, if we’re trying to push yields, we actually need to plant them thinner.”

Despite a thinner stand, he said earlier planting forms a canopy sooner helping water conservation and resistance to weed pressure. Brock says he’s aiming for his soybeans to hit their reproductive stage during the summer solstice, the longest days of the year.

“That’s where we’re really going to see the biggest yield advantages,” he said. “Trying to focus that beginning R1 or R3 right at that summer solstice.”

Brock said his soybeans normally yield in the 50s.