Special Report

Healthy stands boost soybean yields

A yield contest winner says competitions aren’t just about getting big yields.

Last year, Dan Arkels, who farms in north Central Illinois, took part in the Illinois Soybean Association’s 100 bushel challenge.  “I use those contest as a learning tool to try and figure out what is going to move my yields to the next level,” he says.  “

Arkels says keeping the plants healthy is one reason why he saw his yields increase in 2014.  “We had a good stand established, the plants were healthy and we kept them healthy throughout the whole growing season,” he says. “At the end of the year, on a 4 acre test strip, we harvested soybeans with a yield of 103.95 bushels per acre.”

He tells Brownfield it is very important to find out which techniques work best so he can implement them on the rest of his farm.  “I set yield goals every year on what I want to achieve,” he says.  “This coming growing season I’ve set a goal of 400 bushel for an NCGA yield contest entry and 125 bushels for a soybean entry.  That’s how I learn.”

Arkels says he’s excited to get into the 2015 growing season.