Missy Bauer of B&M Crop Consulting says small seed size can have a major impact on soybean yield, causing yields to swing 15 to 20 bu. per acre.
Dry and hot weather is taking a toll on U.S. corn and soybean crops to finish the growing season. While the stretch of unusually warm and dry weather may be top-end yield off of the corn crop, Farm Journal field agronomist Missy Bauer worries it’s robbing the U.S. soybean crop of substantial yield, something that could catch farmers by surprise this harvest.
The latest U.S. Drought Monitor shows 33% of the nation’s soybeans are now in drought and 26% of corn. On August 27, 2024, only 8% of U.S. corn production was affected by drought and 12% of soybeans.
It’s been a quick switch, and as the dry weather continues to plague much of the U.S., Bauer says irrigation is still key this late in the growing season.“Our pivots are running here, and with soybeans, we encourage farmers to irrigate until you feel like you’re knocking the leaves off the plants because seed size can be affected if you don’t have enough moisture,” Bauer adds.
Bauer says it’s all about seed size. If you look at pod counts this year, Bauer says many areas, including in her backyard of Michigan, farmers were podded up for a record bean crop. But with the recent weather negatively impacting seed size, Bauer thinks it will turn out to be a major factor in determining final yields.
“Seed size is such a huge portion of the yield in soybeans, and it can make a huge difference. I mean, you can swing yields 15 to 20 bushels per acre just in seed size, easily, so it has a huge impact,” says Bauer.
During Pro Farmer Crop Tour, the major theme in soybeans was record pod counts. State after state, scouts found record pod counts. But around the time scouts were measuring yield potential during the third week of August, the moisture had shut off, and little did they know that seed size would take a hit.
“Think about it. What we’re trying to determine right now is, it typically takes about 2,500 beans to make a pound of soybeans,” says Chip Flory, host of AgriTalk. He leads the western leg of Pro Farmer Crop Tour. “Well, if it goes to 2,700 beans, your yield is down almost 10%. If it goes all the way to 28, 29, 30,000 beans to make a pound, you’re losing a lot of yield in a short period of time.”
Bauer says there’s no doubt farmers’ fields showed the potential for a record crop this year. The pod counts have been impressive and set the stage for huge yields. However, if there’s one thing Mother Nature reminded us, it is how essential moisture is in August and September.
“I’m pretty bummed out, because I thought that we had such a great start with soybeans, and the crop just couldn’t finish it,” Bauer adds. “I just feel like the timing of it was the worst for the beans. So we come out here, say from mid-August till now with virtually little to no rainfall in that 30-day span, and it was the worst possible timing for our beans. I still think the earlier beans are getting harvested as guys are poking into them this week will probably be better because they weren’t as impacted by it, but the stuff that’s going to get harvested in a week to 10 days from now, I think is going to have a harder time and (smaller) seed size.”
