If my Grandpa Hefty were still alive, one of the changes in agriculture that might surprise him the most is

HOW EARLY WE ARE PLANTING SOYBEANS!

This spring, we would like to see soybeans up and out of the ground a week or two before he would have even considered planting! The soybeans themselves have not changed that much, but the management certainly has.

Here are the 5 BIGGEST KEYS to being successful planting soybeans early.

CROP INSURANCE DATE

If you’re expecting me to say that the crop insurance date is garbage and that you need to plant way before that, hold on just a minute. DON’T FORGET: Crop insurance people have ALL the data. They know the risks and the odds of a crop failure, so you want to use that information to help make the best decisions possible.

TALK TO YOUR CROP INSURANCE PROVIDER. Ask about the earliest planting date options and if it’s possible to buy an earlier date for your area. If so, you can plant early and still be covered in case something goes wrong. If the date is the date and there is no option to change it, do everything you can to be ready to plant once the time comes.

SOIL CONDITION

WHENEVER YOU BEGIN PLANTING, THE SOIL MUST BE DRY. When the soil is dry, you won’t create issues like sidewall compaction for your seed to have to overcome.

I understand that if it’s June 1 and nothing is in the ground, you may have to compromise on this. However, we’re talking about EARLY planting. Don’t mud in a crop. Wait until the soil is dry to begin.

HIGH COLD GERMINATION SCORE

THE STANDARD WARM GERMINATION SCORE IN SOYBEANS IS 90% AND THE STANDARD COLD IS 80%. If your seed meets those standards, you’ve got what’s considered high quality seed. However, what’s the cold germination score on the soybeans you planted last year? Unless you ran the tests yourself, you likely don’t know the answer. Even if it was 80%, that means 20% of your seed is likely not to make it out of the ground if you planted early into cold soils, so your 140,000 population quickly became just 112,000.

Unless you ran the tests yourself, you likely don’t know the answer. Even if it was 80%, that means 20% of your seed is likely not to make it out of the ground if you planted early into cold soils, so your 140,000 population quickly became just 112,000.

If you’re going to plant early, we’ve found the test called “accelerated aging” or AA to be reflective of early performance in the field. Run that test on each variety and plant the best ones first and the others once it warms up.

GREAT SEED TREATMENT

IF YOU’RE GOING TO PLANT EARLY, NOT ONLY DO YOU NEED A SEED TREATMENT, YOU NEED A GREAT SEED TREATMENT. Planting early means your seed will lay in the ground longer and endure more stress than if you planted later. For those reasons, you need fungicides from multiple modes of action plus insecticide. We’ve also documented a significant benefit from using Naturals like Nutri-Cycle and HeatShield on the seed, as well as HeadsUp.

Finally, when you plant early, you’ve got a higher risk of sudden death syndrome developing due to an infection shortly after planting. Saltro or ILeVO have been proven additions to protect against SDS and other diseases. There’s a new product out this year, Victrato, that looks even better and should be considered, as well. Pick one of those three.

IN-FURROW HELP

SHOULD YOU ADD IN-FURROW FERTILIZER OR INSECTICIDE? Soybeans are very sensitive to in-furrow fertilizer. If you do use any fertilizer in or close to the row, use a low rate of a low-salt fertilizer with plenty of water to dilute it down and spread it out. If you are planting into a cover crop or a heavy residue situation where insects are more likely to be an issue, consider adding Ethos Elite or Capture LFR in-furrow to protect your seed.