Zero Till
Soybean
Greg Endres
Extenstion Area Agronomist
Review of NDSU research and
recommendations on selected soybean production topics:
Stand establishment
Plant Nutrition
Soybean Planting Technology
Trial
Bob Henson and Greg Endres
Eric Eriksmoen
Mark Halvorson
Soybean planting technology
trial, 1999-2001
Variety: Traill
(0.0), Daksoy (00.5)
Row Spacing: 6”-7”, 18”-21”,
and 30”
Planting Rate: 100,000,
150,000, and 200,000 pure live seeds/acre
Planting Date: normal and
late (Carrington)
1999 = May 21 and June 6
2000 = May 18 and June 1
2001 = May 18 and June 8
Tillage system (Hettinger
and Minot)
Conventional
No-till
Soybean seed yield
1999 Minimum-till 16.9 bushels/acre, No-till 19.1
bushels/acre
2000 Minimum-till 31.2 bushels/acre, No-till 36.2
bushels/acre
2001 Minimum-till 24.3 bushels/acre, No-till 30.6
bushels/acre
No-till soybean yield by row
spacing
6” row spacing 17.6
bushels/acre
18” row spacing 20.8
bushels/acre
30” row spacing 18.9
bushels/acre
Soybean seed yield with
tillage systems,
Minimum-till 11.0
bushels/acre
No-till 19.4 bushels/acre
Tillage system: Seed yield,
Hettinger, 2000-2001 and Minot, 1999-2001
Minimum-till 18.9 bushels/acre
No-till 24.9
bushels/acre 24% yield advantage with
no-till
NDSU recommendation for soybean
planting date is May 10-25
Planting Date Seed Yield
Mid May 39.7
bushels/acre 6% yield advantage with
mid May planting
Early June 37.4
bushels/acre
Soybean seed yield affected
by planting date and variety
Mid May Daksoy 27.7
bushels/acre
Traill 40.1 bushels/acre
Early June Daksoy 40.1
bushels/acre
Traill 38.1 bushels/acre
5% yield loss with
late-planted Traill while yield was stable with Daksoy
Row Spacing Seed yield 3
locations 1999-2001
6”-7” row spacing 29.8 bushels/acre
18”-21” row spacing 28.4 bushels/acre
30” row spacing 26.9 bushels/acre
10% yield advantage with
narrow vs. wide rows
NDSU recommends establishing
a soybean stand of 150,000 plants/acre
Planting Rate established
stand
Planting Rate Stand
PLS/acre plants/acre
100,000 90,100
(90%)
150,000 115,600
(77%)
200,000 143,800
(72%)
Planting Rate seed yield 3
locations 1999-2001
200,000 PLS/acre 30.5 bushels/acre
150,000 PLS/acre 28.7 bushels/acre
100,000 PLS/acre 25.8 bushels/acre
6% and 15% yield advantage
with high vs. medium and high vs. low planting rates.
Summary
Best Yield advantage was
with:
No-till
Timely planting with
full-season variety
Narrow rows (solid-seeding)
200,000 PLS/acre seeding
rate
August rainfall in
Carrington
Average
2.0”
1999 4.4”
2000 4.6”
2001 1.2”
2002 3.7”
2003 3.0”
Soybean Planting Technology
II trial 2002-2003
Variety: Walsh (0.0) and
Barnes (0.3)
Row Spacing: 6”-7” and 12”-14”
Planting rate: 175,000 and
225,000 PLS/acre
Planting Date: early and mid
May
Locations: Carrington
2002-2003, Hettinger and Minot 2002
Planting date impact on
soybean Carrington 2002-2003
Planting date Emergence Stand Physiological
Maturity Seed yield
days after plants/ac. Days after planting bushels/acre
planting
5/10/02 19 115,000 121 37.1
5/20/02 14 133,000 112 38.4
t-test ** * ** NS
5/15/03 22 129,000 121 30.2
5/30/03 13 187,000 108 30.6
t-test ** * ** NS
Planting Date and Variety
Carrington 2002
Barnes Early May 41.1 bushels/acre
Mid May 33.1
bushels/acre
Walsh Early May 39.9
bushels/acre
Mid May 36.9
bushels/acre
19% yield advantage with
early planting
Row Spacing Seed yield
Carrington and Minot
Carrington 2002
6”-7” row spacing 40.1
bushels/acre
12”-14” row spacing 35.4
bushels/acre
Carrington 2003
6”-7” row spacing 30.4
bushels/acre
12”-14” row spacing 30.4
bushels/acre
Minot 2002
6”-7” row spacing 55.1
bushels/acre
12”-14” row spacing 50.5
bushels/acre
Planting Rate Seed yield
Carrington and Minot
Carrington 2002
225,000 PLS/acre 34.9
bushels/acre
175,000 PLS/acre 34.7
bushels/acre
Carrington 2003
225,000 PLS/acre 30.5
bushels/acre
175,000 PLS/acre 30.2
bushels/acre
Minot 2002
225,000 PLS/acre 54.8
bushels/acre
175,000 PLS/acre 50.9
bushels/acre
Soybean Planting Technology
II trial 2002-2003 Summary
Best Yield advantage
Timely planting with full season variety (Early may not
be better)
Solid-seeding
High-yield environment = 225,000 PLS/acre
Establish
150,000 plants/acre
Soybean Plant Nutrition –
Nitrogen
Apply N to soil to contain a
total of 50 pounds of N/acre
Not necessary to apply N if soybean have been
successfully grown in the field with history of good nodulation and little chlorosis.
Inoculants available in
various forms
Dry Peat
Standard product
Modest cost
Application to seed has challenges
Bacteria susceptibility
Liquid
Application to seed or furrow
Modest cost
Bacteria susceptibility
Granular
Application ease
High cost
Reduced bacteria susceptibility
Increased distribution in soil
Pre-inoculated seed
No application concerns
Modest cost
Reduced bacteria susceptibility
Soybean yield response to
inoculants Carrington 1999-2002
Untreated 38.1
bushels/acre (no prior soybean history and soil N 30-44
lbs/ac.)
50-105 pounds/acre N 38.8 bushels/acre
Inoculant average 39.6
bushels/acre
Low yield inoculant 35.0 bushels/acre
High yield inoculant 43.2
bushels/acre
Soybean inoculation trial
Soil – 37 lbs N/ac. and no
soybean history
Treatments
Total N of 50, 75, and 150 lbs N/acre (pre plant
incorporated fertilizer)
Inoculant formulations
Pre-inoculations
Peat
Liquid
Granular
Inoculant formulation effect on soybean yield Carrington 2003
Check 30.5
Peat 38.0
Liquid 39.3
Granular 39.4
Pre-Inoculated 38.9
Soybean yield and protein
response to N fertilizer and inoculants
Check 30.5 bushels/acre 31.5% protein
50 lbs N 36.1 bushels/acre 31.7% protein
75 lbs N 35.8 bushels/acre 31.1% protein
150 lbs N 40.6 bushels/acre 33.2% protein
Inoculant 38.9
bushels/acre 35.4% protein (average)
Inoculant 41.7
bushels/acre 36.6% protein (high)
N nutrition – seed inoculation
Key is to uniformly apply an
adequate amount of viable bacteria with the seed and rapid placement in the
soil
Inoculant choice depends on
numerous factors: formulation, cost, bacteria strain (Bradyrhizobium
japonicum) and number,
Bacteria count, non-sterile or sterile carrier, handling
and application procedures.
NDSU soybean N credit for
following crop: 40 pounds N/acre