On-farm corn yields are
climbing faster than soybeans.
Here s why, and what
you can do about it
Thanks to stress-free weather and
low pest pressures, Ontario s
average soybean yield hit roughly
43 bushels per acre in 2008. That s an
impressive hike, a full six bushels higher
than the 10-year average of 36.8 bushels.
As good as that sounds, however, it s
still a far cry from the 150 bushels per acre
reported in yield trials south of the border,
and the 80-plus bushels that gets notched
almost every year in Ontario variety trials.
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So, how high can we go in Ontario?
More to the point, how high should
we be aiming?
The Ontario Soybean Growers (OSG)
launched a yield challenge this past year
to find out. We wanted it to be a friendly
competition& for farmers to show us
what they can do to grow the most beans
per acre, says Crosby Devitt, research
and innovation manager with the
Ontario Soybean Growers.
The entrants were divided into three
categories based on the maturity of their
varieties. About 40 growers entered, and
of those, 25 took their tests all the way to
yield and then completed all of the follow-
up paperwork.
Nine of these were in the under 2700
heat units group (Zone 1), 10 in the 2725-
3000 heat units group (Zone 2) and six in
the over 3025 heat units group (Zone 3).
Many of the winners credited favour-able
weather in 2008 for their strong
