Soybean studies continue in Delaware
NEWARK, Del. - A team of 16
scientists from the University of
Delaware will again study
Delaware soybeans this summer in
a search for ways to help farmers
improve yields. The special task
force includes Agricultural Ex
periment Station researchers as
well as Cooperative Extension
Service specialists and county
agents. Their work is being sup
ported in part by a grant from the
Delaware Soybean Board.
The soybean, now the state’s
leading field crop in terms of
acreage, has a disappointing track
record in Delaware from the
standpoint of productivity. Yields
over the past 10 to 15 years have
averaged only around 24 to 26
bushels per acre. And wide fluc
tuations occur from farm to farm,
as well as on the same farm from
year to year.
According to task force coor
dinator, extension farm
management specialist Don
Tilmon, the four-year project is
designed to monitor some 70 dif
ferent factors on plots located
throughout the state. These factors
include everything from soil type,
seed weight and tillage practice to
row width and the amount of plant
biomass present at the start of
bloom. Both conventional and full
season no-till soybeans are in
volved.
25 growers
“We’re looking for yield-related
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factors over which farmers have
some control,” explains Tilmon.
“Twenty-five growers are
cooperating with us. We have four
one-acre plots on each farm, with
four replications in each plot.
When we laid them out, we took
great pains to make sure the soil
within each plot was uniform. The
best alnd on a farm wasn’t always
chosen because we were after a
wide range of soil types.”
Participating farmers follow
their usual cultural practices,
treating soybeans in these plots as
a regular part of their fields.
The study was initiated last year
and task force members collected
information all summer. In the
fall, they hand-harvested plots,
thrashed and weighed the seed,
and adjusted yields for moisture.
By the end of the season, over 7,000
pieces erf information had been
gathered and stored in a computer.
Tilmon spent last winter
analyzing this mountain of data
and has now identified five
preliminary factors which seemed
to relate most directly to 1983
commercial soybean yields in plots
around the state:
* Amount of rainfall in weeks 11,
12 and 13 of the growing season
(the period between bloom and pod
set).
* Final plant population.
• Amount of biomass of
vegetation in the field beginning of
bloom.
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* Seed weight in grams per 100
seed.
* Distance between the ground
and the first pod on the bean stalk.
“The rain, of course, was un
controllable,” Tilmon says, “but
growers did have some control
over the other factors. Our
analysis showed that pod set was a
function of row spacing and final
plant population. Biomass was
affected by rain as well as row
width, early stand counts, variety
and soil nutrients. Seed weight
seemed to be determined by rain,
row spacing, final stand count,
variety, soil nutrients and tissue
nutrients. Final plant populations
depended on early stand count,
rain, variety and tillage method.
(About a fourth of the plots were
no-till,a nd stands were likely to be
higher under this system, he said.)
Row spacing
Distance from the ground to the
first pod was probably the result of
row spacing and final plant
population. “Computer analysis
showed that the higher the pod set,
the greater the yield,” Tilmon
says. “This makes sense when you
figure that soybean plants grow
taller when they’re crowded.
Higher plant counts and narrower
row spacing resulted in higher pod
set and higher yield. So that fact
has implications for narrow row
spacing.”
It’s impossible to generalize
based on one year’s observations,
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however, the specialist stresses.
“We had row spacing all the way
down to 7 inches, and one farmer
with 36-inch rows had a very high
yield.”
The trick now will be to observe
the same plots again this summer
and the next two years, to see if the
same factors remain significant.
For example, tillage methods and
plant populations were correlated
with yields in 1983. Was this a
direct effect of the cultural
practice used, or because the
soybeans got more moisture in the
presence of a no-till mulch? “We
can’t tell from one season’s
results,” Tilmon says.' “After
several more years, we may know
the yield-determining factor.”
In subsequent years other fac
tors may prove significant, while
some that seem important now
may not really affect soybean
yields critically. “It’s just too soon
to know,” Tilmon explains. “We’ll
need at least three years’ worth of
data before we can draw con
clusions from our results.
Different varieties
“We do have different varieties
in our study, and some of the
factors we’ve pinpointed, like
biomass, may reflect varietal
differences,” he adds. “Certainly
an indeterminate variety will have
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a different biomass than a
determite one. And the seed weight
will be different.”
Task force members are looking
closely at all aspects of crop
management, including pest
control and fertility. In general,
says Tilmon, weeds and other
pests were not a factor in plots last
year - probably because they were
controlled. Also, soil nutrient
levels were generally not a
limiting factor.
He says there was a broad range
of yields last year. To some extent,
this was the result of test site
selection. ~
The task force team includes the
following: weed scientist William
H. Ahrens, soil scientist Leo J.
Cotnoir, agricultural economist
Gerald L. Cole, extension ento
tomologist Mark Graustein, en
tomologist Charles N. Mason, soil
fertility researcher Tom Sims,
extension plant pathologist Bob
Mulrooney, agronomist Merle
Teel, county extension agents
Dean Belt, Derby Walker and
Dave Woodward, extension
agricultural engineer Tom
Williams, associate scientist Ed
Wisk, extension crops specialist
Frank Webb, and extension farm
management specialist Tilmon.
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