2018 | Soil Solutions LLC

Using Procidic When Planting Soybeans Earlier is Important in Producing Higher Yields

December 21, 2018

Research over the past 15 years has shown that soybean yields are consistently higher when soybeans are planted earlier than most farmers are accustomed. Most producers recognize the importance of early planting in corn in most years and consequently corn planting has taken a precedent. When planting soybeans, soil conditions are as important as it is with corn. Soils must not be too wet or too dry for optimum germination and growth. In general, the closer to May 1 that you plant soybeans the better.
The reasons for higher yields with earlier planting are:
1) More nodes per plant. Soybeans produce one node about every 4 days after the V1 stage. With greater node number, there is potentially greater pod number. Interestingly, internode length is related to temperature, so earlier planting will also result in shorter internodes which can possibly result in less lodging of soybeans.
2) More sunlight interception. Earlier planting will result in canopy closure sooner, closer to the time of the summer solstice when solar radiation and daylength is the longest. More sunlight harvested means potentially greater photosynthesis and greater yield.
3) Less soil moisture loss. With faster canopy closure, there will be less evaporative loss of soil moisture and cooler soil temperatures since the sunlight will not reach the soil. These conditions also are more favorable for microbial activity in the soil which improves nutrient availability later in the growing season when soybeans reach their peak uptake.
It is critical, however, to note that planting earlier creates an environment that is more favorable for early diseases. Especially when planting earlier, a fungicide should be applied with the seed. If your planter is set up for in-furrow liquid applications, Procidic is an excellent product to consider. Procidic is both a bactericide and a fungicide so you will also get protection against early season bacterial diseases in addition to fungal. We have also observed a reduction in SDS when we used Procidic in-furrow at planting. The reason is that SDS infects the plants shortly after emergence and Procidic in-furrow can reduce infection at that time.
Since Procidic is registered for organic crops, it is excellent to use there as well. For controlling insects in organic crops, Safestrike is the product of choice and may also want to be considered at planting time when planting early.

SDS where Procidic was not applied in furrow on left.

Save The Topsoil!

October 16, 2018

I recently drove across Iowa on I-80 and stopped at the rest area near Casey, Iowa. They have an interesting display outside in front of the building about Iowa Agriculture and the amount of soil loss that has occurred. According to this display the average depth of topsoil in the year 1850 across Iowa was 14 inches. In 1900 it had decreased to 11.5 inches. After another 50 years it had dropped to 8.5 inches and in the 50 years from 1950 to 2000 it had decreased another 3 inches to 5.5 inches. If our rate of loss has stayed steady over the last 18 years the topsoil depth should now be at 4.5 inches. If this rate continues our topsoil will be depleted by 2093. Assuming these trends are correct, this is a rather scary thought that in another generation, the topsoil would be gone. Actually, in areas that are less erosive there would still be topsoil, but this is using average numbers.

It is a fact that yield is directly related to depth of topsoil and organic matter levels in the soil. If topsoil is not as thick, organic matter would be decreased also. It will be difficult to sustain our yield levels or increase yield levels as the trend has been, if this continues.

Farmers need to focus on ways of farming that will reverse this trend or at the least slow the rate of loss that has been occurring over the last 100 plus years. There are many practices that can help. Improving production in those areas that are already severely eroded should be considered. The picture to the left shows reduced growth on the eroded hillsides.

Terraces can also assist in reducing erosion, however, where topsoil is already thin, building terraces decreases production and exposes more subsoils.

See the picture of a recently terraced field in SE Nebraska. Both of these fields can be amended and production improved if gypsum is applied. Nutrient availability is improved, root growth is greater and water infiltration is enhanced.

Use of no till practices, cover crops and crop rotations that include alfalfa and/or clover can also be effective in decreasing soil erosion. Using gypsum with any of these practices will improve production plus decrease runoff, keeping our water and streams purer. Including products such as humic acids and fulvic acids may also be helpful in boosting the yields from these soils since there are less of these available in our soils as our organic matter becomes depleted. These products are available through Soil Solutions and our affiliated retail dealers. You may learn more about humic and fulvic acid on our website. “Improve your soils and the yields will follow” is our tagline at Soil Solutions. Give us a call and we can discuss your soils and how we may make them healthier and more productive.

Beware! Is your Soil Test Giving You “Fake” Organic Matter Readings.

May 7, 2018

Organic matter tests have changed over the years. A decade or two ago most organic matter was done by the Walkley-Black Organic Matter Test which was a digestion test. Due to the length of time and the cost of discarding the heavy metals from the reagents of the test most labs have moved to the loss on ignition test. The drawback is that this test can give elevated results especially in high pH soils that contain appreciable amounts of free lime. The reason is that when the laboratory burns the sample the lime also burns and shows as a loss in weight just as if it was organic matter. Some labs attempt to adjust the OM readings to compensate for this.

As a retailer or farmer, you should be aware of this change that has occurred over the last 10+ years. I think some farmers have seen that their organic matter readings have increased and have attributed it to better farming practices when it may be just due to a change in laboratory procedures and calibrations.

Fertilizer and Herbicide Considerations:

You should also understand that some of your high pH soils may not be as high in organic matter as your soil tests show so if you are using these readings for nitrogen credits in your fertility recommendations you may be over estimating credits or possibly underapplying nitrogen.

The same is true for some soil applied herbicides. Usually in higher organic matter soils these herbicide rates may be increased. Be careful since some of the herbicides are also more active in high pH soils or may carryover worse especially if higher rates are used. Some herbicides are not recommended if less than 3% organic matter. If the organic matter test is overestimating organic matter levels, you may be applying an herbicide where you shouldn’t.

It is sometimes assumed that in higher organic matter soils our response to sulfur may be less. Considering that the organic matter tests may be overestimating organic matter in the high pH soils and high pH soils are often times more responsive to sulfur, the above assumption about sulfur may be incorrect.

Just some considerations that you may not have thought about or been unaware.

Organic Matter Does Matter—Another long-term value of gypsum, humic acid, and fulvic acid in your fields.

April 4, 2018

In recent years we have correlated some of our customers’ yields to soil test levels. The most consistent direct correlation to yield of all soil test analytes is organic matter. In nearly every case, as organic matter increased both corn and soybeans yields increased as the graph below indicates

Soybean Yields

Corn Yields

As everyone knows increasing organic matter in soils takes many years and is difficult to do. Many farmers are focused on how they can increase organic matter, but I don’t hear many talking about how they can reduce the loss of organic matter. The greatest loss of organic matter is through soil erosion. One of the values of gypsum is that it increases infiltration of water and percolation of water through better soil porosity. This means that as you get additional rains there will be more room for water to be stored so there will be less runoff. Also, since gypsum improves the aggregation of the soil, the water that does runoff contains less soil particles and less organic matter. Even no till soils can benefit from gypsum applications in improving water infiltration and decreasing the amount of runoff and erosion that we can often see in no till fields.

How may you improve your yields in lower organic matter soils? What about humic acid and fulvic acid?

In these lower yielding, lower organic matter soils, yields can be improved by increasing the humic and fulvic acid in these soils. These two acids which are produced at higher amounts in higher organic matter soils can be limited in lower organic matter soils. These organic acids can increase water and nutrient uptake by the plants plus improve microbial activity which can increase nutrient uptake as well and stimulate better root growth. Some of our clients have observed this on their more eroded hillsides and higher pH soils. They can be applied with herbicides or with your liquid fertilizer program.

Contact Gene or Bob at Soil Solutions to discuss the benefits that these products may have in your soils.