Gage County
1115 West Scott St.
Beatrice NE 68310
Phone: (402) 223-1384
FAX: (402) 223-1370

News Column

Paul C Hay, Extension Educator

Plan Ahead For Soybean Seed

This year soybean seed was small, had marginal germination levels, and field conditions, proved to be a stern test to stand establishment. This is clear evidence that we need to plan more aggressively for soybean seed needs for spring planting.

Harvesting and storing seed of non-Roundup varieties is not an easy chore. Seed harvest needs to be done in a very timely manner before seed is too dry. Very dry harvest conditions is a major problem in seed harvest, because of seed cracking during both harvest and handling. Seed storage also presents special challenges. Getting it in the bin, dried and cooled, out of the bin cleaned and planted without undo damage requires special equipment and/or special care.

I would suggest that at least 35% of seed orders need to be treated seed. Do not order more than 85% treated seed. Here is my reasoning. Use treated seed in the first planted fields. When soils are cooler and wetter, the chance of seedling diseases is higher. Those first planted fields might include soybeans planted at corn planting time on farms further away from home, where the cost of going back at some later date might be factored into the planting decision.

Use treated seed on those fields which have been a problem in past years. If fields have had thin stands and/or reseeding done in the past they are more likely to need it in the future. Only by coating the seed with a quality fungicide like Apron do we get relief from seedling blight diseases.

Use the remainder of the treated seed on fields that need replanting or on the last fields you plant. The commercial seed companies are reluctant to even carry treated seed for reseeding. No old seed is carried over to the next season. The same is true for the farmer. All treated seed needs to go in the ground. This is where the 85% number comes into play. Do not order more treated seed than you are sure will get in the ground.

NEVER replant soybeans without good treated seed. Most of the seed dealerships now have seed treaters in place for replant needs. The fungus diseases that cause the seedling blights live in the soil all the time. They are always present and always looking for just the right weather and moisture conditions to attack. Once they have had a chance to build up, they are most often just waiting, holding their spores, for the next batch of seed.

Selection of seed varieties is one of the most important decisions in growing the crop. It is also one of the most difficult. Farmers need to find as much independent data as possible to blend with the company data provided by various seed companies. If this decision is easy, then farmers are not spending enough effort on it to understand all of the things they would like to know. It is very difficult today, because of the speed with which new varieties are coming to the market place and the vast majority of the seed being produced in the private for profit sector.

The newest twist which may be on the horizon is hybrid soybeans. Randy Pryor, Extension Educator in Wilber and I will be offering EQIP workshops next spring on pollinator insects. We are short of pollinators now in Nebraska and the problem will be much more important if hybrid soybeans become a reality.

View other Gage County News Columns & News Letters: http://gage.unl.edu/news/news.htm

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