Inoculants, which are a combination of bacteria and a
material to make them adhere to the seed, work on increas
ing the amount and mass of the nodules. The nodules are
critical in nitrogen fixation. David Bitter examines the
nodules on one plant.
Use Of Seed Treatment
Depends On Frequency
Of Soybean Planting
ANDY ANDREWS
Lancaster Farming Staff
FLEETWOOD (Berks Co.) First-year
soybean growers and those attempting up to
five years of growing soybeans on the same
fields would do well to triple-inoculate the
seed before planting, according to an agro
nomist who spoke at a farm Held day
Wednesday.
Dr. Elwood Hatley, Penn State Department
of Agronomy, told 16 soybean producers and
agri-industry representatives that a properly
applied inoculant will help with the right
soil conditions the plant to nodulate and
increase the mass of the nodules.
Hatley spoke at the David Bitler Vista
Grande Farm in Fleetwood at a Penn State
sponsored soybean inoculant Held day.
On hand were members of the Kutztown
Young Farmers Association and several agri-
representatives, as well as extension
service.
It Bitler, who also spoke at the field day,
previewed the five-acre soybean test plot The
I plot was planted on May 19 on 14-inch rows
f. using bekalb 399. Minimum tillage and a
single-disc drill were used. The plot was pre
viously com since 1994.
Bitler, who utilized the services of a Lan
caster crop consultant, planted a total of 60
acres of soybeans out of 500 acres at his farm,
including pasture land on his 100-cow regis
tered Holstein dairy. Typical soybean yield,
he indicated, is 45-50 bushels per acre.
According to Jon Stutzman, agronomist
with Brubaker Agronomic Consulting Ser
vice who helped Bitler establish the soybean
fields, the aim was to drill down 200,000
seeds per acre. Emergence was actually about
140,000 plants per acre.
At the Bitler five-acre test plots, there were
four separate studies. One plot included a
check, one included an all-liquid inoculant,
' another included a material combining a fun
gicide, inoculant, and molybdenum, and
another a USDA peat-based inoculant
The inoculants were mixed in the drill at
i planting time, according to Stutzman.
Soil fertility included a pH of 6.7 with a
phosphorous reading of 198 and potassium of
545. The field receives cow manure annually.
Other factors, according to Elwood Hatley
of Penn State, important for stand and nitro
gen uptake include soil conditions at time of
planting (growers should ensure the soil is not
too cold and hard), soil pH, and weather. Hit
ler said he received, as of Wednesday, a little
more than an inch of rain in the past week.
Often growers are hesitant to spend dollars
on the triple inoculant, “but I believe in using
triple inoculants in low pH situations,” said
Hatley.
With inoculants, which are basically bac
teria in a medium that coats the seed, the plant
has the potential to draw up the four pounds of
nitrogen per bushel needed.
This year, some of the poor stand problems
can be blamed on seed maggots. Many stand
* problems, the result of the long, cool spring
' this year, can be blamed on the maggots or
[ fungus.
(Turn to Pago A 26)
f *' v
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Dr. Elwood Hatley, Penn State Department of Agronomy, center with dark cap, told
16 soybean producers and agrl-Industry representatives that a properly applied ino
culant will help—with the right soil conditions the plant to nodulate and Increase
the mass of the nodules.
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