Exploring the Relation of Soybean Yields to Soil Quality and Production Practices.

Illinois ranks second in soybean (Glycine max) production in the U.S. with a crop value of some $4 billion dollars. Soybean yields increased in Illinois by an average of 0.4 bu per acre per year between 1950 and 2005, but the recent yield trends has not been consistent.  To discover what management practices and environmental conditions enable higher soybean yields, soybean growers, agribusiness industry leaders, and University Extension, the Illinois Soybean Association (ISA) began in 2010 a state-wide “Yield Challenge” program (www.soyyieldchallenge.com). Enrolled producers established a ”challenge” plot and adjoining standard practices plot, and agreed to share crop management data and soil samples for fertility and soybean cyst nematode analyses. A multiple regression analysis of yield, soil parameters, and production practices explained about 56% of the variation in soybean yield in 2010. Yields differed between standard and challenge plots and also among crop reporting districts. Yield was negatively related to planting date and to the number of days the crop was in the field; while we saw a positive trend between yield and the amount of residue at planting and the soil test values of P, K, and Zn. Several other variables lacked sufficient numbers for full analysis, but should be explored further. We identified complexity of data entry as one barrier to more, and more complete, participation, but we see this as a promising start to identifying management factors that may be addressed as we continue the search for higher soybean yields.

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See more from this Division: ASA Section: Agronomic Production Systems
See more from this Session: Applied Soybean Research Community: II

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