A successful harvest depends not only on crop conditions but also on properly functioning equipment. While you can’t eliminate all harvest losses, you can identify the source and adjust harvest equipment for optimum performance.

Fertilizer programs should begin with accurate soil testing. Growers who can self-sample reduce costs and better understand their soil situations. Review best practices so your samples lead to more reliable results and more educated management decisions.

Soybeans offer many economic and agronomic benefits that complement corn production. Crop rotation prevents the buildup of pathogens and diseases in the soil, and it helps break pest cycles that are common in continuous corn operations. The varied planting time and growing season for each crop helps spread the workload over a wider window of time. Additional benefits of crop rotation include increased nitrogen (N) availability and improved soil health and tilth.

Cover crops planted after harvest can improve and maintain soil quality in today’s intensive corn-soybean rotations. Understand how different types of cover crops recover unused nutrients, retain soil moisture, suppress weeds and break up compaction.

Maximizing yield starts with correct planting, and correct planting starts with adjusting the planter to the proper settings. Carefully check planting equipment before you hit the field this spring.

Seed treatments can help protect soybean seeds and seedlings against a wide range of yield-threatening insects and diseases. Treatments can help to increase stand and vigor, promote earlier canopy closure and improve yield potential. The need for seed treatment depends on soil type, field history and pest pressure. Assess all factors before deciding whether to order seed treatment.

Sudden death syndrome (SDS) is one of the most detrimental diseases in soybeans due to limited management options. Correctly diagnosing the disease in the current season can help growers manage its spread in successive seasons.

Seed treatments are valuable tools for protecting soybean genetic yield potential against a wide range of insects and diseases that threaten early growth. With so many seed treatment options, it is important to understand how each one works to protect your soybean crop.

Growers can protect their investment in Roundup Ready^® crops and maximize yield potential through the use of a residual herbicide, such as SureStart^®II or Sonic^®. SureStart delivers consistent, broad-spectrum weed control during early stages of corn growth and offers application flexibility. Sonic provides broad-spectrum foundation control of tough broadleaf weeds to reduce competition for emerging soybeans.

Mycogen Seeds customer agronomist, Melissa McDonald, share five tips for selecting the right soybean variety to maximize the potential of your acres. Add Mycogen^® brand soybeans to your crop rotation to break up pest and disease cycles.

Soybean growers can maximize the yield potential of their crop by ensuring it is planted at an ideal population. Plant populations vary by geography, so it is important to consider local conditions as well as the variety, row width, seed treatments and other factors.

Soybean seed produced during summers with high heat and drought conditions can lead to increased seed size for the next growing season. These larger seed sizes, ranging from 2,000 to 2,750 seeds per pound, require more management to ensure accurate planting densities. Follow these steps to prepare equipment for planting.

Soybean seed produced during summers with high heat and drought conditions can lead to a wide range in germination rate of seed lots available for the next growing season. The quality of some seed lots may fall below customary industry standards. Be aware of studies that demonstrate how soybean plants can compensate when stands are reduced. Understand factors causing reduced germination and adjust seeding rates, if necessary.

Palmer amaranth is a resilient weed with increasing herbicide resistance and territorial expansion that could harm your crops. Through identification and precaution, you can maintain your plant health and yield potentials.

Since their 2000 United States debut, soybean aphids have proven to reduce yields by up to 40 percent while exposing soybean crops to other potential pest problems. Under the right circumstances, insecticide applications can help growers manage crop losses.

Waterlogged and completely submerged soybean plants can significantly reduce yields. When dealing with flooded soybeans, take into account the following conditions that can damage the crop.

Many factors can cause stand reduction in soybeans. Replanting may be one option to consider.

An accurate soil map is important when efficiently managing fields and soil fertility levels. Grid sampling is an effective soil sampling method to use when fields have a high number of soil types or textures, and when previous cropping and management practices have changed or are unknown.

Since the adoption of corn hybrids with biotechnology traits, growers have continued to see more consistent 200-bushel-plus corn crops in past seasons. However, increased yields have created the challenge of dealing with increased levels of residue when planting next year’s crop.

Caused by the fungus Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, soybean white mold has been problematic since the early 1990s, becoming more damaging in recent years.

Excessive rainfall can accelerate stem canker development in soybean fields, causing devastating yield reductions of up to 90 percent. Effective field management and surveillance practices can preserve crop health.

Soil acidity is one of the primary fertility issues that can limit crop growth. High levels of acid can reduce nutrient availability, restrict root growth and increase the toxicity of some elements. Soil acidification occurs naturally as the result of rainfall, plant growth, breakdown of organic matter and the application of ammonia fertilizers. Applying lime reduces soil acidity and is a source of calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg).

Slug damage in corn and soybeans has increased with the adoption of no-till and minimum-till practices. Because rescue treatment options are limited, growers should take steps to prevent slug damage.

Strip-till is a conservation system that uses minimum tillage. It combines the soil-drying and warming benefits of conventional tillage with the soil-protection advantages of no-till by disturbing only the soil that will contain the seed row. Strip-till rows are usually about 8 to 10 inches wide. Because special equipment is required for this type of tillage, understanding what is needed for a strip-till system can help you determine if it’s the right practice for your fields.

Crop harvest removes valuable nutrients from the soil. Understanding the amount of nutrients removed is crucial to understanding how to fertilize for the highest yield potential next season. With high input costs, it can be tempting to skimp on nutrients to save cost. Over time, however, this approach can reduce yield potential and profitability.

The brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB) is an invasive species that is causing economic damage to fruit, vegetable and agronomic crops in the Mid-Atlantic states. The insect now is expanding its range westward across the Corn Belt.

Iron deficiency chlorosis (IDC) of soybeans is a physiological disease caused by iron deficiency capable of sizable reductions in yield potential. Know and understand how to mitigate your risks.

Glyphosate-tolerant corn and soybean systems have become commonplace. But more than a decade after the introduction of glyphosate-tolerant crops, weed control has again become a major problem in nearly every crop-producing state. Many weeds have become more difficult to control and herbicide application rates have spiked. Learn to effectively balance your management approach.

Mastering foliar fertilizer application methods and timing help maximize your crop’s efficiency. Follow these guidelines for proper foliar fertilizer application.

Charcoal rot is one of the most damaging diseases for soybeans in the South, causing up to 50 percent yield loss in extreme situations. Identification and prevention methods are vital for protection against this stress-induced disease.

Grasshopper population levels are highest during hot, dry summers. Active scouting and applying appropriate crop management practices can help guard your crop from damage.

Traditionally a headache for soybean growers in Southern states, frogeye leaf spot is an increasing concern for growers in the central Corn Belt and soybean-producing states such as Indiana, Illinois and Iowa because of recent weather patterns. What is this yield-limiting foliar disease and how can growers manage it?

Hail storms can have varying impacts on soybeans each year. Accurately assessing the situation can help you estimate potential yield loss.