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| 1st let me say I am 55 yrs old & started farming on my own when I was 19 so I have put a few bean crops in. I have probably used a lot of different methods of planting beans except for an airseeder.
When I started out I planted beans in 36" rows and had yields as high as 70bpa but normal was in the upper 40s to low 50s. In the mid '70s I experimented with using a reg. wheat drill with unsatisfactory results. Biggest problem was depth control. This was an old 10' IH drill from the '50s that used chains to cover the seed & which I pulled an old double roller behind.
In 1978 I bought a new IH 620 presswheel drill. I pulled this unit behind a cultimulcher very pretty good success and even did a lot of custom work with the rig. I ran this rig until the early'90s . Again, the 70 bpa mark was tops in exceptional conditions but avg yields jumped into the mid 50s & 60 bu yields were not all that uncommon. I can't say the increase in average yields were due to the 7" rows as in 1981 we started on an extensive soil sampling program thru an independent soil clinic but I feel part of the increase was due to the drilled beans. One nice advantage was weed control as this was in the days prior to rr soybeans. Biggest disadvantage was again depth control. Soil types & conditions really affected the depth even on a single pass thru the field.
During this time period I also tried sowing beans using a t.d. fertilizer, fertilizer truck with air booms, & mixing beans with potsh & spreading them with an air boom equipped fertilizer spreader. At about the same time a close friend whom I did custom bean drilling also tried sowing beans from a helicopter. All of these experiments ended with mixed results
In the late '80s I switched to 30" corn and in the early '90s went back to rowing beans with the planter. In '94,'95,&'96 I rent various makes of no-till drills but was still unsatisfied with the depth control & spacings by the drills. Also, during this time period we experimented with 7", 15", & 30" row spacings in several plots using different maturties & different types (straight stemmed & bushy stemmed) of soybeans. Results vary rarily showed much difference, usually within 1.5 bpa, no matter the row width given normal growing conditions. In dry years the drilled beans usually were the best no matter maturity & type while in wet years the wider rowed beans were the best. In those years the 15" rowed beans , though not as good as, tended to yield closer to the drilled beans in dry years & closer to the 30" in wet years.
In '97 I was needing to replace my corn planter & my drill was wore out & hadn't found a no-till drill I was satisfied with I made the decidion to go to a splitrow planter. Like plowboy, I feel the planter units give much better depth control & a planter's metering system is far better than any metering system of the drills I have used or been around. being we don't raise wheat I do not feel I can justify owning two different planting units.
We just recently purchased our 3rd splitrow planter. before trading we debated switching to 20" corn & beans but didn't feel we had enough information showing that 20" corn will increase yields in our soils and donot to lose any gains that we have benifited from in the 15" rowed beans.
The one thing I disagree with ployboy about is plant populations. We have done a lot of experimenting with different levels of planting populations & from what we have seen we feel that seeding rates can be lowered as row widths are increased. Thru the years we have gradually dropped our seeding populations no matter what row width we were in. In drilled beans I started out planting in the 215,000 - 225,000 range and gradually dropped to 175,000 rate, and even drilled at 150,000 & didn't see any yield reductions. problems with the lower rates were getting all of the seeds up & weed control. In 15" rows we started in 175,000 -185,000 & have dropped to 155-165,000 depending whether the bean ius a straight stemmed or bushy plant. We still plant a few beans in 30" rows, mainly riverbottoms where we are trying to hold costs to the very minimum, we are rowing 30" beans at 125,000 with good yields.
Instead of saying one method is better than another I would recomend anybody who is contemplating a row switch do some experimenting & get out & talk to your neighbors. I have been at this long enough to know what works in one area or for one person does not necessarily mean it will work in another area or for a different farmer. Along the same lines, in no way would I say that our way is the only way or the best. Just that it's what works for us at the present time.
The one biggest piece of advice that I can give is for a farmer to know his land & his fertility levels, The best thing that I ever did , and saved me the most money, was to hire an independent soil clinic to do our soil testing. As previously stated I have been with them since 1981 & evrytime I rent or purchase a new piece of land it is tested & is fertilized in accordance to their recomendations. In no way is this a knock on fertilizer companies that do their own testing as I have had them do testings on fields that our soil clinic is testing for comparison & normally the tests will come back very close.
FWIW.,
boog | |
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Soybean row width discussion.....again
