Educate me on Soybeans

I am thinking of putting out my first crop of soybeans this year. I have always been a "hay farmer" but my manpower and available time have been limited lately. Never planted any beans. Thinking of no tilling them into rye stubble after the rye is combined. Either with a no till drill with every other space plugged, or having it planted on 30" rows by a custom operator. I am in south central pa,and the beans will be planted lated so I will need a pretty short maturing bean. How about herbicide? I was thinking of going round up ready if there is seed still available, but I do have basagran herbicide from spraying for nutsedge in my pastures...I have read that there are some diseases soybeans get??? Educate me please...
Thanks
 
You should have ideal conditions, no build up of disease in the soil from past crops - that is an issue in some areas, and a nonissue in other areas.

Generally beans do well on lighter soils that get a good rain in late August.

The one thing that will help you a lot is to inoculate your beans. If you grow a crop every other year, the bugs are in your soil. But if you haven't grown beans in a few years, the inoculatates are needed.

Both liquid and peat powder type are available, and everyone says theirs are better. But you need some somehow. These are the little bugs that fix N for the beans. You need them. Pretty cheap per acre, many recommend you double the dose on new ground.

Other than that, you will likely do very well with new ground.

Paul
 
I am a few counties east. Beans planted after rye are risky, but the last few years have paid well. Figure on no beans if things are really dry, maybe 20-30 on average and 40+ if it is wet. If conditions are good, they need planted ASAP after your rye. I believe penn state says a bushel or more penalty per day. RR works well, may need some first rate mixed in. I like NK s36.
Josh
 
Northern beans react to the days getting shorter, and so they kinda shut down naturally, not like corn, they react to the sun.

This shows up if you are next to civilization and street lights hit your beans, they keep growing and never get ripe.....

Shorter season beans can do better in a short season, but still are more controlled by the position of the sun.

A longer season bean planted in mid summer will not yield as well, and might get froze off and beans stay green. But it isn't like corn with a set number of days for each type of bean.

The shorter season ones will do better in a short season, but the long season ones will likely work out too, just not as good in that short time frame.

Paul
 
Maturity is different in beans than in corn. Corn requires a certain amount of heat units- period.

Beans get ripe, more or less, by the changes in day length. Full season in my neighborhood is 1.8-2.6. Anywhere in there works. The last time I did some short season, such as you would be doing, I was told to use a 2.0-2.2. I was told the short season planted late would be VERY short and hence hard to combine.

Making sure soil potash levels are good is also helpful in bean production.

No-tilling behind the combine is your best option. Beans can be grown in solid stand or rows- in my neighborhood we see everything from 7 to 36 in rows.
 

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