Ohio Soybean Contest

I entered the Ohio Soybean Contest this year to see how I stack up against other farmers in Ohio. I had the chance to break 100 bu an acre and I hope some farmer did it.

There is a quality part of the contest to compare soybean protein and oil content which is valuable to our buyers. I think this is really good for Ohio farmers.

My 4.1 LL contest beans only made 82 at the house. I had 60 pods at 160K plus but now only 47 pods after heat and no rain in August and Sept. Headline fungicide did not keep them on, fertility was good, all I got was green stems from Headline and no yield increase. I have already heard big yield increases with Headline fungicide in other parts of the country. What happened?

That is still double county yield but I had 100 bu beans and lost them. What could I have done differently? The beans were probably 3000 seeds per pound and started at 2800 on the seed planted. I usually can make them bigger but not this time. I think it was just too hot and too dry too long. The weird thing is the worst soil in the field did the best and the best soil did less which is different from every other crop I have had in that field. I did a real good job leveling the playing field but didn't get my reward on my best soil. That patch of Brookston Kokomo usually outyields the Miami Russell slopes but not this year.

Croplan has already dropped this bean but we have the highest yields on poorer soils we ever had. I think a Pioneer or Asgrow would have stood better, this variety was leaning and lodged in some spots and starting to fall apart. The Asgrow 4006 and 3803's stood better but the 38's didn't have the yield punch they normally have. Got Pioner Y and M varieties across the road and not even as good as these but this is a little better soil with more crop rotation and structure.

This variety was rated Very Tall when I thought it was Tall when I ordered them. You can get beans too tall on good ground and I did just that. On the poorer fields, it wasn't as tall as they got here but they still yielded well.

'Bout the time you thought you had something figured out....

I would think someone in Ohio hit 100 and I really thought it could be me. I will be interested the quality check on oil and protein in that part of the contest, that I am usually very high in but maybe not this strange year.

I had almost identical yields in this field in 06 when it rained all summer and was cooler, at least it took the heat this year. I had 15 top varieties in this field and all high 70's low 80's.

I really wanted to raise 100 bu beans in my lifetime and I had it and let it slip away.

Ed