Uniform Stand and Narrow Rows are Needed for Higher Double-crop Soybean Yield

Abstract

Double-crop soybean producers do not always realize a yield benefit when they convert from a 15-inch planter to a 7.5-inch grain drill. Poor seed singulation with drills was suspected to limit narrow-row yield response. Experiments were conducted to determine if a precision drill with 7.5-inch row spacing and accurate soybean seed singulation would improve stand uniformity and/or increase yield over a standard grain drill with poor seed singulation or a vacuum-meter planter with 15-inch row spacing and accurate soybean seed singulation in a doublecropped soybean system. The effects of planter speed on stand uniformity and yield were also investigated. Stand uniformity with the precision drill was equal to the vacuum-meter planter and better than the standard drill. Soybean yield with the standard drill was equal to the vacuum-meter planter in three of four years and less than the vacuum-meter planter in one year. Soybean yields were greater when planted with the precision drill than when planted with the vacuum-meter planter in 2 of 3 years, and averaged 10% over three years of study. Planting speeds of 5 or 7 mph did not affect stand uniformity or yield. The Implications of Stand Variability and Yield Narrowing row spacing from 30 or more inches to 20 or fewer inches consistently increases double-crop soybean yield (3,4,6,7). Yield benefits of narrowing row spacing to less than 15 to 20 inches are less clear. Comparing 10versus 20-inch row spacing in Louisiana, Boquet et al. (5) measured a 11 and 5% increase in yield with the 10-inch rows when soybean were planted on June 15 and July 1, respectively. Averaged over 56 North Carolina locations, 10-inch row spacing yielded 5% greater than 20-inch row spacing (7). Soybean planted in 7.5-inch rows yielded greater than in 15-inch rows in three of five Maryland sites (13). In contrast, soybean grown in 7.5-inch rows did not yield greater than 19inch rows when planted in June or July in an Arkansas study (2). Double-crop soybean growers in Virginia have commented that they receive little to no yield benefit from narrowing rows below that which can be obtained with a narrowrow (15 to 24 inches) planter (D. L. Holshouser, personal communication, 2001). Some of the discrepancy between the Arkansas data or Virginia grower experience and other research may be in the type of planter used. When yield increases occurred, either the same planter was used for both row spacings or plots were hand-planted to insure uniformity between plots. In the Arkansas study, soybean in 7.5-inch rows was planted with a grain drill and a rotary-plate planter was used for the 19-inch row spacing. Likewise, growers use grain drills when narrowing row spacing to 7.5 to 10 inches. Vacuum-meter, finger-pickup, and rotary-plate planters will meter, or singulate, seed well, while seed singulation with grain drills that use fluted wheels is usually not as good. Gaps created by poor seed singulation with drills may be responsible for the lack of yield response. This implies that uniform placement within a row is important in realizing higher soybean yield with 7.5- to 10-inch row spacing.