Beans escape diseases, look for high yield

The intense summer heat has taken a toll on corn but the beans have withstood the high temperatures rather well. Iowa State University Crop Specialist Jim Fawcett said that, with a few more rains this month, the bean crop should be a good one for area farmers.

Fawcett said the year did not begin especially well for beans as it did last year when spring temperatures were very high. This year?s spring, and particularly April, was colder and rainier than last year?s, which meant farmers planted later this year than last year.

?Beans didn?t get planted until mid-May this year,? Fawcett said. ?It?s better if they?re planted by May 1, but I don?t think that will cause much of a yield loss.?

Fawcett expects this year?s bean crop to be better than last year?s because diseases have been fairly uncommon this year. Last year was a different story.

?We were hit so hard with sudden death syndrome last year,? Fawcett said.

Fawcett said sudden death syndrome (SDS) was very bad in southeast Iowa last year because of the spring weather. He said beans were planted in April last year, earlier than normal, but suffered through a cold and wet May. Fawcett said those conditions are favorable to the SDS fungus, which attacked the young bean plants. Farmers who waited to plant their beans until late May were not affected as much by SDS.

This year?s late planting kept the SDS fungus in check, Fawcett said.

?The diseases don?t seem as bad this year,? Fawcett said. ?The hot and dry weather kept these problems down.?

Fawcett said farmers saw ?brown spot? on their soybeans early in the year.

?Brown spot tends to start on the lower leaves and, with the right conditions, can move up to the mid-canopy,? Fawcett said.

Fawcett said that the hot and dry weather prevented brown spot from moving up the soybean plants and doing significant damage.

August is an important month for beans. Fawcett said that is because it is the month the beans fill their pods, which determines the yield farmers enjoy in the fall. He said beans can recover from a rough July by putting more beans on the pod in August.

?Beans can compensate in August for early stress, but after August there is no way to compensate for stress,? Fawcett said.

Fawcett said that rain is the most important thing beans need at this point. He said the temperature is not as important for beans as it is for corn.

?Beans tend to take the heat well,? he said. ?Hot nights hurt corn but they don?t affect soybeans as much.?

Fawcett said the beans are on pace for a normal harvest.

?The corn may be harvested before the beans,? he said. ?I think some beans will be ready by mid-September, but most will be ready by late September. Late September through October is when beans are usually harvested.?

He said farmers tend to harvest beans instead of corn if both crops are ready at the same time. He said this is because soybeans become too dry and the yield is therefore worse if they sit out too long.

?When the beans are ready, they?ll be combined,? he said. ?You can let the corn dry in the field.?

Fawcett said beans are very rarely dried using artificial means, and that this kind of drying is reserved mostly for corn. Only when there is heavy rainfall in the fall do farmers dry soybeans.

?Two years ago, we saw some drying of soybeans,? he said.