What Are the Benefits of Early Planting for Soybeans?

Discover how early planting can increase yield potential.

2021 TRIAL GOALS

As a result of widespread adoption of treated soybean seed, many farmers now plant soybeans earlier than ever before. In fact, Illinois farmers had 41% of their soybean crop planted by May 2, 2021, compared to the previous five-year average of 14%.¹

The study presented below was conducted in order to understand the yield impact of planting soybeans at different dates along with the agronomic characteristics that enable early planted soybeans to have higher yield potential.

The main factor behind the yield potential increase in early planted soybeans is the ability for the plants to create more nodes before flowering.² To better understand this interaction, we measured the number of nodes created and days to flowering.

RESEARCH SITE DETAILS

This research was conducted at the Crop Science division of Bayer FOCUS sites in Illinois counties Kendall, Piatt, Sangamon and Woodford from 2018-2021.
Five soybean products, ranging in relative maturity (RM) from 2.6 to 3.6 were evaluated, although not all products were planted at every location or in every year.
All seed was treated with Acceleron® Seed Applied Solutions STANDARD and ILeVO® seed treatment.
Standard fertility and weed management practices were followed, and plots were harvested as they matured.

BREAKING DOWN THE RESULTS

To compare data across years, results are presented as a percentage of the maximum yield for the year, location and product. The highest yields are attained from earlier planting, with a steady decline as the season progresses (Figure 1).
Although it is possible for later-planted soybeans to attain satisfactory yield, there is a much greater yield variation than in fields that are planted earlier (Figure 1).
Stand reduction can occur in early planting situations (Figure 2), but as shown in this research, the earlier plantings can have greater yield potential than later ones, even with lower final populations.
Flowering date in soybeans is influenced by daylength and is often assumed to occur on a specific date regardless of planting date, but multiple factors combine to influence the actual date at which flowering occurs.3 Figure 3 illustrates that the period between planting and flowering is greatly reduced when planting later.
The earlier soybeans are planted, the more time they have to grow vegetatively and create nodes that are the foundation for maximizing yield potential (Figure 4).

Figure 1. Average soybean yield response to planting date (2018).

Figure 2. Average final soybean stands of 140,000 planted population across multiple planting dates (2020-2021).

Figure 3. Average number of days until flowering in soybeans based on planting date (2019-2021).

Figure 4. Effect of planting date on average number of main stem nodes created by July 10 (2019-2021).

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS

Here are some key takeaways from this study:

While later-planted soybeans sometimes attain satisfactory yield, there is a much greater variation than in fields that are planted earlier.
This research found that even though there was not always a large yield advantage to planting earlier, there was rarely a yield penalty. To reach maximum yield potential, it is critical that seeds are properly protected with quality seed treatment.⁴
This research found that early planted soybeans have a longer period between planting and flowering, providing higher yield potential by creation of additional nodes. Conversely, later planting dates have reduced the time between planting and flowering and less yield potential.

2020 TRIAL GOALS

Largely due to the widespread adoption of treated soybean seed, farmers now plant soybeans increasingly earlier than ever before. For example, Illinois farmers had 31% of their soybean crop planted by May 3, 2020, compared to the previous five-year average of 12%.¹
This research was conducted with a goal of understanding not only the yield impact of planting soybeans at different dates but also the agronomic characteristics that enable early planted soybeans to have higher yield potential.
The main driver of a yield potential increase in early planted soybeans is the ability for the plants to create more nodes before flowering.² We measured the number of nodes created and days to flowering to better understand this interaction.

RESEARCH SITE DETAILS

This research was conducted at Crop Science division of Bayer FOCUS sites in four Illinois counties: Kendall, Piatt, Sangamon and Woodford from 2018 through 2020.
Four soybean products, ranging in maturity group (MG) 2.6 to 3.6, were evaluated, although not all products were planted at every location or in every year.
All seeds were treated with Acceleron® STANDARD and ILeVO® seed treatment.
Standard fertility and weed management practices were followed, and plots were harvested as they matured.

BREAKING DOWN THE RESULTS

To compare data across years, results are presented as a percentage of the maximum for the year, location and variety. The highest average yields are attained from earlier planting, with a steady decline as the season goes on (Figure 1).
Although it is possible for later-planted soybeans to attain satisfactory yield, there is a much greater yield variation than in fields that are planted earlier.
Flowering date in soybeans is influenced by daylength and is often assumed to occur on a specific date regardless of planting date, but multiple factors combine to influence the actual date at which flowering occurs.³ Figure 2 illustrates that the period between planting and flowering is greatly reduced when planting later.
The earlier soybeans are planted, the more time they have to grow vegetatively and create nodes, which are the foundation for yield potential (Figure 3).

Figure 1. Average soybean yield response to planting date over three years (2018 to 2020).

Figure 2. Average number of days from planting to flowering for a 3.6 MG soybean product based on planting date over two years (2019 and 2020).

Figure 3. Effect of planting date on number of developed main stem nodes for a 3.6 MG soybean product by July 10 over two years (2019 to 2020).

SUMMARY OF RESULTS

Although later-planted soybeans can have satisfactory yield potential, there is more yield variation than in fields planted earlier.
Although there is not always a large yield advantage to planting earlier, there is rarely a yield penalty. To reach maximum yield potential, it is critical that seeds are properly protected with a quality seed treatment.⁴
Early planted soybeans have a longer period between planting and flowering, providing higher yield potential from the development of additional nodes. Conversely, later-planted soybeans have a shorter time between planting and flowering, which can negatively impact yield potential.

Sources:

¹ U.S. Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Statistic Service. https://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/Illinois/Publications/Crop_Progress_&_Condition/

² Bastidas, A.M., Setiyono, T.D., Dobermann, A., Cassman, K.G., Elmore, R.W., Graef, G.L. and Specht, J.E. 2008. Soybean sowing date: The vegetative, reproductive, and agronomic impacts. Crop Science. Volume 48.

³ Hu, M. and Wiatrak, P. 2012. Effect of planting date on soybean growth, yield, and grain quality: review. Agronomy Journal. Volume 104.

⁴ Rees J. and Specht, J. 2020. Understanding the soybean germination process for early planted soybean decisions. https://cropwatch.unl.edu/2020/understanding-soybean-germination-process-early-planted-soybean-decisions

What Are the Benefits of Early Planting for Soybeans?