Soybean issue

LetThemGrow

LetThemGrow

Member
So I hired a farmer to plant some beans where there has always been orchard grass field. The beans are about 1 every 20'. I'm wondering if he failed to inoculate, as he is likely used to planting in fields that have had beans before? That's all I can figure based on some internet reading. He planted at field on property same day and they are up nicely.

Any help appreciated I'm having him come back Tuesday to hopefully replant but I want to get it right this time.
 
Sometimes in sod its tough to get the seed slot closed, so that could be the difference? AFAIK innoculant really doesnt have much to do with getting them to germinate, but more to do with getting them to produce their own nitrogen.
 
I had a problem this year too

Used turkey federation wildlife seed. It's been so wet. I think a combination of wet conditions, my drill settings of the past drilled them deeper than normal, wet conditions and potentially poor seed germination from old seed my beans look terrible. Some farmers in the area have similar results
 
Ok thanks for replies. To be clear, the ag field with the hearty stand of beans was drilled same day with same drill and seed. Only difference is that 2 years ago it had beans in, whereas my plots haven't ever had beans. Field is within 1/4 mile of all plots. It was fallow last year so sprayed just like the plots prior to drilling beans.
 
With or without innoculant, the seed still would've germinated. What did you spray with? If it was something other than glyphosate, check the label and see if it had a residual, which might have had an affect on your germination.
 
The next thing I would do, is get a pocket knife and dig into the seed trench and:

1. See if you can see the seed. If you can't find any, that says something
2. If you find seed, see what it looks like. Did it germinate and then just die?
3. How deep was it planted and when did he plant. Somethings planting too deep in moist cool soil will cause the seed to rot.
4. You can take your results to the farmer and get his opinion or a local extension service.
5. What is the ph of your soil?

Just some things to consider ..... find out where your seed went and what did it do?
 
soybean issue.JPG

Here is what I could find, some rows I couldn't find anything. There were a few stems chewed off about inch above ground level.
 
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So, you didn't find any beans, spaced out, about 6" apart in the rows that were planted, even below ground? Assuming you dug 3" deep? Only in spots, here and there? If that's the case, it would appear that the beans didn't get planted.

If you found just a stem sticking up above the ground and a germinated bean below, then the deer hammered them. If a bean gets nipped off, below the 2 bottom leaves, it will not grow. It's done .... it's toast.

I never asked, but how many acres did you plant and what variety?
 
Thanks much for helping me! I don't know what variety was planted, it's about 3 acres spread out in 4 plots. 3 acre field on neighbor as well with same issue. Then 7 acre field with great stand of beans, except for edge that was cleared back along woods. So possibly I need to look harder for more short stems where beans were destroyed?
 
My father (old school), whether planting corn, beans, etc., when he raised the planter at the end of the row, would look back over each row and make sure he could see a seed that had dropped on top of the ground. That gave him a comfort level that nothing went wrong with the planter. A week after planting, he would go in there, with his pocket knife and dig up 3 feet of a row and count each seed .... measure the spacing of each seed .... and looked at the germination of each seed. We used to tease him that he dug up more seed than he planted.

Your seed should be in the top 1" - 2". The bottom line here, is if you can't find any seed, then it did not get put in the ground. I think the farmer would've noticed that, but keep looking and check each row. Find your seed. The answer is in your plot.

But if you find just 1" stems, then the deer hammered your plot. I quit planting a soybean and cowpea mix, when, 5 acres would get wiped out, quickly.
 
With modern equipment and a real farmer operating it the planter not dropping seed is probably not going to be the problem. Deer can do a number on new beans, I'm guessing your deer ate them. Plant an oat and brassica mix and shoot some deer over it the first evening of the season.
 
LetThemGrow said:
After a replant things are still very sporadic. I'm wondering if the drill was putting them in too deep?
Click to expand...
Wow, that's too bad. But I was very sloppy at depth on my beans, 1" to 2 1/2", and they came up just fine. However, now the deer eat them about as fast as they grow. I would sooner say not deep enough, any seed laying on top wont grow. Unless your field is very rough it's probably not the depth. Something is wrong with your plot. A key nutrient missing in the soil? Bad seed? Deer pressure heavier than you realize? Not enough rain? You may want to try an easier to grow planting like LC brassica mix is good in mid to late July, or Oats and AWP in late August.
 
I personally have never had problems with beans growing. We did several different tests this year to see what type of planting did the best. I have had drilled beans, broadcast and disc in, even ran disc over an oats/rye mix and broadcast hoping the seed would fall into the very shallow grooves the disc cut I did run disc back over but it wasn't turning soil over and we even did a small throw and mow. Every one of these test plots germinated and look good at this point. I agree with Farmer D the seed either did not get planted or the deer has ate it. If seed hit the dirt and you got a little rain it would germinate unless the soil was hard as a rock.
 
If all you got are stems....rabbits, groundhogs and deer, and sometimes even turkey or geese can really hammer a small plot. Like was stated if they are browsed too soon they will not bounce back. Planting depth can be an issue or there is something out of kilter with the planter/drill. If the seed wasn't covered birds will also make short work of beans on the ground. I know on my planter I spend a lot of time looking backwards making sure I see seed falling (I use and old school plate planter). A plugged tube or a hopper running low can cause "skips" that are difficult to detect until everything else germinates. I too tend to go looking for seed and germination status before the plant itself breaks the soil surface. Also keep in mind a nice looking stand of beans can be deceiving at a distance. Beans are very competitive and will quickly and easily fill voids in the field if given the opportunity AND planting conditions in an existing crop field tend to be much better for the planting equipment to do it's job as well. Just for grins this year I tilled my plots, broadcast my beans and simply pressed them into the worked soil buy running over them with my tractor tires. They popped up pretty good.
 
Thanks again for replies, I've much to learn and soybeans are one area I'm a novice. Next year I will need to pay better attention to seed depth and seeding rate per acre. I did find out it was 50# per acre.

Revisited plots last night, more beans are up compared to last time...but also more nipped off too.
 
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