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How does the soybean grow?
Fungicide applications see innovation that may benefit overall yield
MT. PLEASANT — Throughout the spring and summer and entering fall the landscape of Iowa features rolling hills of green crops as far as the eye can see. While mid- to late July is key for pollination of corn, mid- to late August and sometimes even early September is often the time final soybean yields are determined.
From tall cornstalks to short soybean plants, fields of green cover agricultural land across the state and those outside of the agricultural field may wonder how can farmers produce such plentiful fields?
While many farmers located in the Southeast corner of Iowa near Mt. Pleasant rely heavily on the knowledge passed down to them from generation to generation, they also continue to look ahead to new innovations to make for the most bountiful harvests. Beck’s Hybrid in Mt. Pleasant assists these farmers in finding these new ways.
Beck’s purchased their Mt. Pleasant facility in 2014 with 62 acres that feature more than 105,000 square feet of warehouses, 500,000 bushels of bulk storage capacity, three double-pass dryers, machinery storage. The facility is also home to a full sales and agronomic support team.
In efforts to understand product and the agricultural landscape of the area, Beck’s uses Practical Farm Research (PFR) and show plots for studies. One recent study by Beck’s however, had to branch out from the small sections of show plots and partner with local farmers as they studied fungicide products and applications.
Fungicides primarily prevent or mitigate disease pressure. Beck’s says they can also increase water efficiency, photosynthesis, nitrate reductase activity, increase window for grain fill, and improve stress tolerance, therefore studying this aspect of successfully growing products such as soybeans is important.
“As fungicide use has increased, how to apply it has been one of the top questions we get from farmers,” Co-Host of Beck’s The Dig show Collin Scherer said.“ “Unfortunately, this is a question we can’t answer using our typical PFR plots. It’s kind of hard to get an airplane to fly over just a three hundred long strip in four different spots across the field.”
So, Beck’s took the research to a larger field-scale setting by partnering with local farmers to conduct trials as on-farm PFR studies. They compared applications of fungicides via traditional air planes and drones.
According to Beck’s The Dig hosts Scherer and Aaron Carmer, application of fungicide via drone produced greater yields over ground and plane applications, though the study only contains one year’s worth of data. In soybeans, Beck’s saw an increase of 1.8 bushels of soybeans versus ground application.
Historically, those in the agricultural industry have understood carrier rate to be key for making fungicide applications. The Beck’s study applied fungicide at a two-gallon per acre rate from drones and 20-gallon per acre rate from ground rigs.
Scherer hypothesized that they saw a greater yield from the drone crops not because the fungicide was more evenly distributed, but due to the higher concentration of the droplets from the drone. This higher concentration could possibly mean the fungicide is more effective. Additional reasons the drone method may be more effective include its ability to maintain a more consistent level across all the crops during application. The closer application from the drone also tend to cause the crops to move more during application.
“Based on this first year of data, drone do appear to be an effective fungicide application option, and something farmers should consider,” Scherer said.
With the limited data of the one-year study, Beck’s has chosen to implement a drone carrier rate study this year. During this study they will apply fungicide with a one-, two-, and three-gallon an acre water carrier.
Whatever way farmers choose to apply their fungicide, The Dig reminds them that timing is really everything and fungicides should be applied in the R3 growth stage. Iowa State University Extension defines this stage as the beginning pod stage. At this point the pods are 3/16 inch at one of the four uppermost nodes. This occurs after the full flowering and before the full pod.
Soybean Specialist March Licht would agree that timing is incredibly important for successful soybean harvests and applying before R5, the beginning seed stage, makes the most difference. According to Licht, contrary to common misconception, applying this late in the season will not relieve or minimize the effects of drought or act as a “magic bullet” for drought stress.
Comments: AnnaMarie.Ward@southeastiowaunion.com
