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Chesley, Ontario | Thanks for the vote of confidence! <grin> It's a good thing we OMAFRA types don't take comments like that personally.
As far as our recommendations, we go by what the evidence shows us. In side by side comparisons, the narrow rows do better as you go further north, so 60 miles north of London there is a clear yield advantage to narrow rows. South of London, it is probably a wash. Of course, there are differences farm to farm. The wide rows come up quicker and more evenly on ground that is prone to crusting, and there is less risk of white mould if we get another damp summer like this one. Planters are also generally more idiot-proof than drills when it comes to getting even seeding depth, which can make a huge difference in the final stand and yield.
As far as continuous soys, it comes down to risk management. The more years of continuous soys, the greater the risk of encountering a catastrophic failure from soybean cyst nematode, or diseases like SDS or BSR or white mould. There is also a steady decline in soil organic matter and soil tilth in continuous soybean "rotations", which may not bite for a long time, but when it does bite, it bites hard. It's not that difficult to keep your soil in reasonable condition, but it is very hard to bring it back once you've destroyed it. If you are going to put short term profit ahead of long term survival, you should at least be planting a cover crop after the beans come off to put a bit of organic matter back in the soil. | |
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2008 crop is in the bins
