Double-cropped Soybean Research Articles

Prevalence and Cropping System Impacts on Soybean Vein Necrosis Disease in Delaware Soybeans

Soybean vein necrosis disease (SVN) is the most widespread virus of soybeans in the United States. This thrip-vetcored virus can cause foliar chlorosis and necrosis, and it can reduce soybean oil content, which may impact producers of high-oleic acid soybeans in the mid-Atlantic. The prevalence of SVN in Delaware is unknown. In addition, we hypothesized that cropping system (i.e., full-season versus double-cropped) beans may differ in SVN, likely owing to duration of exposure to viruliferous thrips. SVN incidence was assessed in 88 soybean fields (48 full season, 40 double crop following small grains) from 2015 to 2017. Each field was assessed at the vegetative growth stage and early reproductive stage. Following statistical analysis using a random mixed repeated measures model, data indicated that SVN incidence increased from 4.5 to 29.8% when comparing vegetative versus reproductive growth stages. SVN incidence was 50% lower in full-season compared with double-cropped soybeans. Our data indicate that double-cropped soybeans or late-planted soybeans may be at higher risk for SVN, and therefore producers of high-oleic acid soybeans should avoid late planting dates.

Effect of Management Practices on Double-Crop Soybean Yields

Effect of Management Practices on Double-Crop Soybean Yields

Grain Sorghum Response to Nitrogen Fertilizer following Cover Crops

Grain sorghum growth and development was affected by cover crop and N management. Sorghum–sudangrass cover crop prior to grain sorghum required N to maintain yield. Late maturing soybean cover crop increased grain sorghum yield at suboptimal N rates. Late maturing soybean cover crop, N fertilizer replacement value of 44 kg N ha–1. Cover crops (CCs) can affect N fertilizer management by influencing nutrient cycling and N fertilizer requirement. Cropping systems with different CCs were established in 2007 to examine the response of sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench]. Four CC treatments {summer legume, late‐maturing soybean [LMS; Glycine max (L.) Merr]; summer non‐legume, sorghum–sudangrass (SS; Sorghum bicolor × Sorghum bicolor var. sudanese); winter legume, crimson clover (CL; Trifolium incarnatum L.), and winter non‐legume, daikon radish (DR; Raphanus sativus L.)} as well as double‐crop soybean (DSB) and chemical‐fallow (CF) treatments were imposed after wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) harvest in a wheat–sorghum–soybean cropping system. Five N rates (0, 45, 90, 135, and 180 kg N ha–1) were applied to sorghum within 2 wk of planting. Aboveground sorghum biomass was collected after physiological maturity to determine total N uptake and grain yield. The cropping system managed with LMS increased grain yield (>9%), compared to other CCs and CF with zero N application. Cropping systems including CL, DR, and DSB had similar effects on grain yield relative to CF when N fertilizer was applied. Increasing N rates significantly increased grain yield and N uptake of grain sorghum following SS, indicating that soil N was limited in this cropping system. The addition of LMS as a summer legume CC has the potential to contribute N and replace CF, thus improving management of N resources.

Impacts of Tillage, Maturity Group, and Insecticide Use on Megacopta cribraria (Hemiptera: Plataspidae) Populations in Double-Cropped Soybean.

Megacopta cribraria (F.), also known as the kudzu bug, is a soybean pest in the United States, and it can cause up to a 60% yield reduction if not controlled. Insecticides are commonly used to manage this pest in commercial soybean fields. However, other soybean production practices may also affect kudzu bug populations. This study investigated the effect of soil tillage, maturity group selection, and insecticide use on kudzu bug densities in soybean. During 2012 and 2013, at two locations each year in North Carolina, four varieties of soybean maturity groups were planted in June into conventionally tilled plots and into plots with cereal crop residue under reduced tillage conditions (mimicking double-crop production). Plots were further split as insecticide-protected and untreated. Four times more kudzu bugs were found in conventionally tilled than reduced till plots throughout the growing season. Selection of the maturity group influenced the attractiveness of the kudzu bug to oviposit on soybean. A 56% reduction of kudzu bug densities was achieved through insecticide treatment, with an ∼6% increase in yield. Information on how production practices, including soil tillage, affect kudzu bug populations in soybean may help growers select practices to minimize kudzu bug injury and protect yield.

Double Crop Soybean After Wheat

Double Crop Soybean After Wheat

Tillage and Nitrogen Placement Effects on Yields in a Short-Season Corn/Wheat/ Double-Crop Soybean Rotation

Tillage and Nitrogen Placement Effects on Yields in a Short-Season Corn/Wheat/ Double-Crop Soybean Rotation

Does More Corn = More Profit for 2015???

Acres allocated to crop enterprises can change for any number of reasons. Economics is a prevailing influence but dealing with weed and/or disease pressures, the installation of drainage tile, and disposing of manure...all are valid reasons a producer might vary the number of acres devoted to any single crop enterprise in any single year. Length of the growing season also has an impact on crop rotations. Large areas of southern Illinois can easily fit double crop soybeans into a rotation while that feat would be very difficult in most of northern Illinois.

2015 Soybean Production in Southeast Kansas

Crop performance and yield varies as a function of the growing environment and soil properties within the field. Optimal soybean planting in southeast Kansas usually occurs from mid-May to mid-June for full-season or late-June to early-July for doublecropped soybean. Planting is timed to capture fall rains and cooler temperatures during critical periods of bean development and yield formation and avoid mid-summer heat and drought. Changing planting configuration (row spacing and plant population), timing of planting, and cultivar selection are methods of optimizing soybean production for different growing environments.

Productivity and resource use in intensified cropping systems in the Rolling Pampa, Argentina

Increasing cropland productivity is critical to meet future global demand of food, fibers and biofuels. Recent innovations in grain crop management are aimed at designing more ecologically complex cropping systems by growing doublecrop sequences comprising a great variety of crop species. The objectives of this study were to compare (i) the pattern of resource use and the productivity in cool-season crops and their influence on the following warm-season second crops, and (ii) the overall resource capture, resource use efficiency, and productivity of various single and double cropping systems. Hence, three field experiments under rainfed conditions and computer-simulated experiments were conducted in contrasting sites in the Rolling Pampa. Seven cropping systems were evaluated, which included five double crop sequences (rapeseed/soybean, wheat/soybean, barley/soybean, field pea/soybean, and field pea/maize) and maize and soybean as single crops. Cool-season crops differed in resource use, which therefore affected differently the following second crop. The highest and the lowest yields with double cropped soybean were produced after field pea and wheat, respectively. Soybean single crop was the least productive treatment because of low resource capture and moderate resource use efficiency. Double cropping systems including soybean as second crop outperformed soybean single crop productivity due to larger resource use. Comparatively, maize single crop used fewer resources but with higher efficiency than the cropping systems including soybean, which led to higher yields when water was not limiting. Field pea/maize double crop was the most productive system, since field pea allowed for long resource use periods, while maintaining similar resource use efficiency as maize single crops. Field experiment results were confirmed by crop yield simulations based on 39 years of environmental data from the same sites. Wheat/soybean double crops expanded and contributed to raise productivity in the Pampas with available farming technologies. However, novel crop type combinations appeared as feasible ways for improving resource use balance in the growing season among the component crops. This may raise the total annual productivity or, at least, increase the grain yield of soybean, the more profitable component at present. These findings have important implications regarding the ecological intensification of commodity grain cropping systems, which can be implemented by proactive farmers in the short-term in various regions of the world.

Single and double crop systems in the Argentine Pampas: Environmental determinants of annual grain yield

New avenues are being explored to increase food production in the extensive agriculture of highly productive temperate regions. Intensifying the use of land by sequencing two crops in a season (double cropping) may enhance annual land productivity in relation to single annual crops. Single soybean (Glycine max L. Merr.) and maize (Zea maize L.) are widespread in the Argentine Pampas while wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)–soybean double crop system is the most common land-intensive cropping system. The possibility for expanding the double cropping system is large although it has received insufficient attention. The objectives of the present study were to (i) describe the association between major environmental variables and grain yield of wheat–soybean double crop, maize and soybean single crops and (ii) compare their annual grain yield over a wide range of environments as a basis to evaluate the possible contribution to productivity expected from wheat–soybean double crop compared with maize and soybean single crops. Yield data from farms widely distributed across the Argentine Pampas and meteorological information from 30 stations distributed in the region were recorded and analyzed. A five-year period of on-farm yields were obtained from 132 groups of farmers nested in 11 zones. Variables analyzed were crop grain yields, glucose equivalents grain yields, rainfall, temperature, radiation, and frost-free period. The ratio between radiation and temperature (photo-thermal quotient; PTQ) was also considered as a grain yield determinant for wheat. Mean daily temperature during crop reproductive stages was an important determinant of maximum yields for all crops as described by a boundary-function fit. The highest grain yields of maize and soybean were obtained at moderate summer temperatures (21.8–23.5°C and 21.8–23.8°C, respectively). Wheat maximum yields increased with low spring temperatures (<18.3°C), following high photo-thermal quotients during reproductive stages. In contrast, the highest yields of double crop soybean were obtained at high summer temperatures (>21.2°C), which were associated with extended frost free periods. High yields of the wheat–soybean double crop system were obtained with cool temperatures during spring combined with a relatively extended frost free period and substantial summer rainfall. On-farm yields below the boundary-function appeared associated to low rainfall scenarios, especially in double cropped soybean fields. The geographical patterns of yield for wheat–soybean double crop system tended to be similar to that of maize and soybean single crops. The most highly productive area for the three cropping systems evaluated was located in the center of the Argentine Pampas. However, wheat–soybean double crops were more productive than soybean at any site, but their yields were slightly lower than those of maize. In addition, the work helped to identify possible areas where wheat–soybean double crop system may give relative higher advantages; particularly, in some of the currently least productive areas. Since nowadays, almost 60% of the studied area is sown with single soybean, the results suggest that there is an effective possibility to have a substantial increase in on-farm productivity, while still producing soybean, simply by expanding the double crop system.

Soybean Production: Planting Date × Variety, Southeast Kansas

Optimal soybean planting in southeast Kansas usually occurs from mid-May to midJune for full-season or late June to early July for double-cropped soybean. Planting is timed to capture fall rains and cooler temperatures during critical periods of bean development and yield formation to avoid midsummer heat and drought.

Dual Cropping Winter Camelina with Soybean in the Northern Corn Belt

Sustainably balancing biofuel crop production with food, feed, and fiber on agricultural lands will require developing new cropping strategies. Double‐ and/or relay‐cropping winter camelina (Camelina sativaL.) with soybean [Glycine max(L.) Merr.] may be a means to produce an energy and food crop on the same land in a single year. A study was conducted between 2009 and 2011 in west central Minnesota to evaluate yields, seed quality, economics, and within‐field energy balance of winter camelina–soybean double‐ and relay‐cropping systems compared with a conventional monocropped full‐season soybean. Systems included methods to hasten camelina harvest (e.g., swathing and desiccating) to promote early soybean growth. Camelina seed yields were unaffected by cropping system and ranged from 1.1 to 1.3 Mg ha−1. Relay‐cropped soybean yields were greater than double‐cropped soybean and were 58 to 83% of that for the monocropped control. Seed oil and protein content of double‐ and relay‐cropped soybean were comparable to their monocropped counterpart and combined seed oil yield for the dual crop systems was as much as 50% greater. Net economic returns for the relay‐crop treatments were competitive with that of the full‐season soybean. Moreover, net energy of the relay‐crop treatments was generally as high as the sole soybean crop, but energy efficiency (outputs/inputs) was less due to greater inputs. Results indicate that dual cropping of winter camelina with soybean is agronomically viable for the upper Midwest and might be an attractive system to growers seeking a “cash” cover crop.

Release of 2015 Crop Budgets

The 2015 Illinois Crop Budgets are available in the management section of farmdoc (click here for the budgets). Budgets are given for corn, soybeans, wheat, and double-crop soybeans grown in northern, central, and southern Illinois. Central Illinois is further divided into categories for high and low productivity farmland. Overall, 2015 returns are projected at the same levels as 2014 returns, which are considerably lower than returns from 2010 through 2013. These lower returns signal the need to reduce 2015 cash rents.

Maize–soybean intensification alternatives for the Pampas

Cultivating multiple crops as a land use alternative could increase system productivity and sustainability, providing options to soybean monoculture for the Argentinean Pampas. This study evaluates the performance of maize–soybean in double crop, relay crop and intercrop across a wide range of water supply and length of growing season in the Pampas. It also assesses the effect of maize cycle length and maize and soybean prices on these intensification alternatives. A total of 16 experiments, 6 rainfed and 10 irrigated, were conducted at four INTA Research Stations during five growing seasons. Yield ranged from 4390 to 16,862kgha−1, for sole maize crops, and from 1884 to 5130kgha−1, for sole soybean crops. The intensification alternatives productivity, measured as the land equivalent ratio (LER), was associated to the length of the growing season and was higher than 1.00 in 100%, 86% and 61% of the cases for maize–soybean double crop, relay crop and intercrop, respectively. Maize grain yield in double crop was similar to that of sole maize crop, whereas soybean yield in double crop was reduced compared to that of sole soybean crop due to sowing date delay. Maize and soybean grain yields under relay crop and intercrop were lower than their respective sole crops. The intercrop increased soybean yield and decreased maize yield compared with relay crop. Yield of soybean in intercrop and relay crop increased when sown with short cycle length maize hybrids. Maize and soybean sole crop yields were positively correlated (P<0.01, r=0.82). However, a negative correlation was found between maize and soybean yields for intensification alternatives under irrigated conditions (P<0.01, r=−0.68), but not under rainfed conditions. The intercropping alternatives under rainfed conditions could reduce farm risk, due to the similar economic results with soybean sole crop, and the lack of correlation between soybean and maize yields.

Topsoil structure in no-tilled soils in the Rolling Pampa, Argentina

Some topsoil physical properties evolve unfavourably under continuous, no-till farming. On the Pampa, loam soils under no-till sometimes have lower infiltration rates than those conventionally tilled; this is due to the occurrence of platy and massive structures. In this study, we aimed to identify the soil management practices that promote platy structure formation, and explain the soil physical behaviour linked to the thickness of platy structures in relation to infiltration rate, bulk density and shear strength. Six fields with different numbers of years under agriculture and diverse previous crops (maize or wheat–soybean double crop) were sampled, distinguishing within each field headlands (areas with higher traffic) and centre (lower traffic). Twenty samples were taken at random along a 200-m transect to characterise soil structure (platy, granular or massive) and the thickness of the platy structure. Principal component analysis revealed linkages between previous crop and location in each field and type of structure. ANOVA showed a significant (P &lt; 0.05) interaction of previous crop × location. The frequency and thickness of the platy structures were lower, and those of granular structures higher, under wheat–soybean double cropping and in the centre of the field. Greater thickness of the platy structure determined lower water infiltration rate (r = –0.337; P &lt; 0.01) and greater soil shear strength (r = 0.297, P &lt; 0.01). Micromorphological analysis indicated the dominance of massive and platy structure in the headlands and bioturbation in the centre of the fields with wheat–soybean double cropping. These results suggest bioturbation, crop-root binding and low machinery traffic as the main factors minimising soil evolution towards unfavourable structural types under no-till farming in the area.

Cropping System Affects Polymer-Coated Urea Release and Corn Yield Response in Claypan Soils

Preplant-applied, urea-based fertilizer management in high-residue, no-till (NT) corn (Zea mays L.) is challenging because of potential N loss due to cool, wet conditions in the spring and dry conditions during the summer months. Field research evaluated the effects of polymer-coated urea (PCU) application timing, placement and cropping system on urea release for corn and determined corn yield response to PCU on claypan soils following wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cropping systems [reduced-till corn following wheat, no-till corn following wheat with double-cropped (DC) soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] and no-till corn following wheat with a frost-seeded red clover (FSC) (Trifolium pratense L.) cover crop]. Urea release from PCU was <35 % from fall through winter (November–January) and <20 % for early preplant (February–March) applications until 1 April. By 1 August, less urea was released in some instances from surface applications of PCU following FSC or DC soybean, but release was generally greater than in the absence of soil. No-till corn following DC soybean or FSC had yields that were 1.01–1.32 Mg ha−1 greater when grown with PCU compared to urea at 168 kg N ha−1. Grain yields were similar within no-till cropping systems with PCU, anhydrous ammonia and sidedressed urea ammonium nitrate (UAN) at 168 kg N ha−1. Farmers should recognize that high yields may not be obtained if PCU rates are reduced by 50 % (84 kg N ha−1) in high-residue (DC soybean or FSC), no-till production systems. Several N sources such as PCU, anhydrous ammonia and sidedressed UAN worked similarly in high-residue, no-till systems, although no differences between N sources were observed in a reduced-tillage system.

Release of Revenue and Costs for Corn, Soybeans, Wheat, and Double-Crop Soybeans

Release of Revenue and Costs for Corn, Soybeans, Wheat, and Double-Crop Soybeans

Double-cropping with winter camelina in the northern Corn Belt to produce fuel and food

Camelina (Camelina sativa L.) can be used as oilseed feedstock for biofuels. Recently, it was shown that fall-seeded winter camelina can be successfully grown in the upper Midwest USA and may be harvested early enough in the following summer to allow producing a second crop. Double-cropping may offer a profitable means of producing a dedicated biofuel crop without jeopardizing food security. To our knowledge no published information exists on exploring double-cropping with winter camelina. Therefore, a 2-yr field study was conducted between 2007 and 2009 in west central Minnesota to evaluate the agronomic and economic viability of producing short-season cultivars of soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.], oilseed sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.), and forage millet (Setaria italica L.) after winter camelina in conventionally tilled and no-tilled soil. In most instances, yields of camelina and the second crop in the double-crop sequence differed between years but not by tillage practice. Averaged over both years, total oil yields for the camelina–soybean and camelina–sunflower sequences were 704 and 1508Lha−1. Compared to conventionally produced mono-crops, on average, double-crop soybean and sunflower yielded 82% and 72% of their mono-cropped counterparts, respectively. As expected, double-crop production costs were greater than for conventional mono-crops. However, in 2009 if camelina prices were similar to canola, net returns for double-crop camelina and soybean were $172–352ha−1 higher than for soybean alone, with highest double-crop net returns for conventional tillage. Furthermore, double-crop soybean seed protein content was little affected by late seeding, while double-crop sunflower oil content averaged over both years was about 13% lower than conventional sunflower sown at an optimum time. A winter camelina-food or -forage crop double-cropping system may be viable for the upper Midwest USA.

Effect of Wheat Herbicide Carryover on Double-Crop Cotton and Soybean

In the southeastern United States many farmers double-crop winter wheat with soybean or cotton. However, there is little information about residual injury of herbicides used in wheat to these rotational crops. Experiments were conducted from 2007 to 2008 and 2008 to 2009 in soft red winter wheat to evaluate response of rotational crops of soybean and cotton after application of various acetolactate synthase herbicides in wheat. Pyroxsulam, mesosulfuron, sulfosulfuron, propoxycarbazone, or chlorsulfuron plus metsulfuron at multiple rates were applied to wheat approximately 110 to 120 d before planting rotational crops. Soils were Tift loamy sand at Ty Ty, GA and Faceville sandy loam at Plains, GA. After wheat harvest, soybean (‘Pioneer 97M50’) and cotton (‘DP 0949 B2RF’) were strip-tillage planted and evaluated for injury, stand density, height over time, and yields. For both locations, wheat was tolerant to all herbicide treatments with little to no visible injury 7 to 90 d after application. Pyroxsulam injury was less than sulfosulfuron or mesosulfuron. At recommended use rates, wheat injury was transient with no effect on yield. Double-crop soybean for both locations had no differences in stand establishment for any herbicide treatments. There was significant carryover injury to soybean and cotton for sulfosulfuron applied to wheat for the Faceville sandy loam. There was no effect of herbicide treatment on cotton stand. There was little to no difference in residual activity on rotational crops between pyroxsulam and other wheat herbicides when labeled rates were applied. This is significant as pyroxsulam is used to control Italian ryegrass and wild radish in this region.

Double-Cropped Soybean and Wheat with Subsurface Drip Irrigation Supplemented by Treated Swine Wastewater

The wastewater from swine production facilities has been typically managed by treatment in anaerobic lagoons followed by land application. However, there have been considerable advances in superior treatment technologies. Wastewater from one of these technologies was effective for subsurface drip irrigation of bermudagrass. The objectives of this experiment were to assess accumulation of soil nitrogen and carbon along with grain yield, dry-matter accumulation, and plant nitrogen accumulation of soybean [Glycine max (L) Merr., cv.] and wheat [Triticum aestivum (L), cv.] when supplementally irrigated with treated swine effluent via subsurface drip irrigation (SDI). The soil series was Autryville loamy sand (loamy, siliceous, subactive, thermic Arenic Paleudults). Its low unsaturated hydraulic conductivity of 0.0017 ± 0.0023 mm h−1 caused problems with water movement to either the soil surface or laterally to adjoining soybean and wheat roots. This condition contributed to complete crop failure in soybean in 2 years and generally poor yields of wheat. In a good rainfall year, the soybean yield was somewhat satisfactory and benefited from the supplemental irrigation. In that year, nonirrigated and irrigated soybean mean yields were 1.55 versus 1.98 Mg ha−1, respectively. The mean yield of wheat was only 1.06 Mg ha−1, and it was not affected by irrigation. The means for soil nitrogen and carbon in the 0- to 15-cm depth were 414 and 5,679 mg kg−1, respectively, and they were not affected by the water treatments. Thus, neither soil conditions nor soybean/wheat production were greatly enhanced by the SDI system.