Planting Date, Maturity, and Temperature Effects on Soybean Seed Yield and Composition

By Spyridon Mourtzinis, Adam P. Gaspar, S. Naeve, Shawn P. Conley. 2017

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Agronomy Journa l • Volume 109, I s sue 5 • 2017 Soybean maturity selection is an important management decision. Maturity group zones represent regions where a cultivar is best adapted without implying that MG-specific cultivars cannot be grown elsewhere (Boerma and Specht, 2004). Hypothetical MG zones were first developed by Scott and Aldrich (1970), followed by the work of Zhang et al. (2007) who redefined the optimum MG zones using yield variety trial data from 1998 to 2003. Most recently, Mourtzinis and Conley (2017) re-delineated MG zones across the United States using 2005 to 2015 yield variety trial data. In their study, although the zones were generated using a vast amount of information, the results are restricted to the PD range of the variety trials. Since the 1970s, the length of the growing season has increased, most notably in the northern Corn Belt (Kucharik et al., 2010) where producers are planting 1 to 3 wk earlier (Conley and Santini, 2007). Soybean yield increases have been documented with earlier planting, where early May PDs consistently result in the greatest yield (De Bruin and Pedersen, 2008; Gaspar and Conley, 2015; Marburger et al., 2016). In Wisconsin, Gaspar and Conley (2015) saw a 21.2 kg ha–1 d–1 yield decline when planting was delayed past the first week in May. Since MG selection does not increase input costs, with earlier PDs, many producers question the optimum MG for planting soybean in their region (Gaspar and Conley, 2015; Salmerón et al., 2015). While early planting is a prudent management practice to increase soybean yield, logistical, equipment, environment, and labor challenges can delay planting. However, when early planting is possible, soybean is exposed to a greater risk of a spring killing frost, early season insects and seedling diseases, and damaging rainfall events that may result in suboptimal stand. In such years, replanting may be necessary. Furthermore, the climate variability that is affecting state and regional soybean yields (Mourtzinis et al., 2015) may also cause more frequent replanting situations. Proper replanting methods and optimal final plant stands (>247,000 plants ha–1) have been determined by Gaspar and Conley (2015), and yet, the proper MG to use in replant or late planting scenarios are unclear. Recent research conducted in the Midsouth, where a wide range of PDs and MGs are possible, has heavily investigated the MG × PD interaction to maximize yield (Salmerón et al., 2014, 2016). However, the challenges in the northern Corn Belt include later spring PDs and killing fall Planting Date, Maturity, and Temperature Effects on Soybean Seed Yield and Composition

Subfields: Agronomy and Crop Science, Plant Science

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