Big bean, big yields at PTI trials

PONTIAC, Ill. — Adding nutrition on the planter and spoon-feeding the plants throughout the season provided the highest soybean yield and a top three return on investment in Precision Technology Institute trials in 2021.

The high management soybean trials led to 110.4 bushels per acre, 35.7 higher than a traditional status quo program.

Even though inputs for the high management 110.4-bushel soybeans were an additional $266.59 per acre, the program still had a return on investment of $161.10 per acre, ranking it third in ROI among PTI’s agronomic studies.

“This was the highest soybean yield I’ve gotten at the PTI farm yet for the four years we’ve been there,” said Jason Webster, Precision Planting commercial agronomist and PTI director.

The irrigated control/foliar program with no planter treatments yielded 96.8 bushels per acre, and the non-irrigated and no foliars trial averaged 74.7 bushels per acre.

“Yes, the irrigated control had a full-year management program, but we look at at-plant nutrition with FurrowJet Center (102.8), FurrowJet Wing (103.6) and Conceal (108.3), we kept driving yield higher, and that’s what it took to get to 110.4,” Webster added.

“Every application we did we charged ourselves because that’s what’s going to happen on your farm. We’ve got to look at yield and we’ve got to look at profitability. If something doesn’t win, we’re going to pull it out and replace it with something else.”

High Yield Protocols

The high yield was achieved using a FurrowJet/Conceal combination of protocols, including combining FurrowJet Center, Conceal Dual Band and FurrowJet Wing on the planter.

Using the Conceal Dual Band system, 5 gallons per acre of 32% UAN, 3 gallons per acre of Nachurs K-Fuse, 10 gallons per acre of Nachurs Throwback, 2 quarts per acre of Nachurs SideSwipe and 32 ounces of Nachurs HumiFlexMax were applied.

The soybeans received a foliar mix at R5 of Syngenta Miravis Neo, 1 gallon of Nachurs Balance and 2 quarts of Nachurs K-fuel.

The protocol for FurrowJet Center at plant included 1 gallon per acre of QLF Boost, 8 ounces of StollerUSA Bio-Forge Advantage, 32 ounces of StollerUSA Charge and 2 gallons per acre of water.

One pint per acre of Nachurs Finish Line, 2 quarts per acre of Nachurs Triple Option and herbicide were then applied foliar at the fifth trifoliate. An R1 foliar application included Syngenta Miravis Top, 8 ounces of Nachurs 10% boron and 2 ounces of Nachurs 10% molybdenum.

Using FurrowJet Wing at-plant, he applied 1.5 gallons of Nachurs TripleOption, 1.5 gallons of Nachurs Balance and 2 gallons per acre of water.

That was followed at R1 with a foliar application of 1 gallon per acre of Nachurs K-Flex, 3 quarts per acre of Nachurs imPulse and 1 pint per acre of Nachurs Finish Line. The final application was at R3 with a foliar application of 15 ounces per acre of BASF RevyTek, 1.5 gallons per acre of Nachurs Balance and 2 quarts per acre of Nachurs K-Fuel.

“High management non-irrigated foliar programs gave us some pretty nice yields, but if we keep driving it, especially with this at-plant nutrition, setting the foundation for soybeans. FurrowJet and Conceal combined got this thing done and then spoon-feeding along continued to drive these yields,” Webster said.

Four-Bean Pods

He noted high yield trials featured tall plants and a lot of four-bean pods.

“We kept feeding and feeding our soybeans and they got a little taller and they got a little taller and a little taller. Everybody was saying the soybeans look terrible. They’re starting to fall over a little bit,” Webster said.

“All along, though, I was smiling a little bit because I knew something was happening with these soybeans. Yes, they got taller than what I would like, but those four-bean pods were incredible. There was a bunch of them.

“I think irrigation was part of it. I can get at least a 20 to 25 bushel yield increase irrigating soybeans, but there’s more than that. We got those four-bean pods because of the management that we were doing, especially the fertility management.”

Big Seeds

The season-long treatments also resulted in larger than average soybean seed.

The highest yield averaged 2,084 seeds per pound for a test weight of 60.4 pounds per bushel, compared to a typical average of 2,865 seeds per pound and a test weight of 57.1 pounds per bushel.

“They were absolutely huge soybeans. It just goes to show you big beans mean big yields. That’s what we’re trying to achieve. It was that high management that got us there,” Webster concluded.