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Cover crop
Following the barley harvest, typically commencing mid-June in our region, there is a three-month period before soil preparation for the next crop, during which the soil is left bare and often becomes weed-infested. Here are some tips for successful post-harvest management, particularly for soybeans.
Our soybean varieties generally have a 100-day growing period, which largely depends on accumulated temperatures. ES Comandor, Aurelina and Lissabon varieties, with their short growing season, are designed for late planting. They are geographically suited for northern regions with milder climates and planting in spring. They mature around the same time as some later-maturing group 1 soybeans in our area. Hence, we have incorporated ES Comandor, Aurelina and Lissabon into our production, where it thrives with late planting under our climatic conditions.
We will continue with more advice on the production process in the following text.
Harvesting of pre-crop
Performing this operation at the correct time is crucial. For instance, if you plan to sow a leguminous crop on a particular plot, it's essential to focus on that task. Harvest the crop as soon as it reaches technological maturity without any delay. This advice is based on the fact that each day of the growing season is critical for the sowing of leguminous crops, and our experience has shown that the yield is significantly influenced by the sowing date.
Ensure the combine's header is set as low as possible to avoid tall straw, and adjust the combine's chopper to finely chop and evenly distribute the straw across the field. If you're baling straw and removing it from the field, do so immediately after harvesting.
Additionally, be vigilant to minimize the amount of barley/wheat shattering behind the combine, as this can lead to unwanted weeds in your soybean or sunflower crops.
Land preparation and sowing
After harvesting the forages, it is preferable to do a shallow plate with heavy plates to a depth of 10-15 cm. The possibility of irrigation is extremely important in direct sowing, we can even say very crucial. We have certain years where there are summers with sufficient rainfall, and when irrigation is not even necessary.
If possible, sow with direct seed drills that have disc seeders, and additional rows of discs in front of the sowing elements. These discs in front of the sowing elements will perform another finer preparation of the soil for sowing. It is important that there are disc seeders for sowing so that the seeds do not remain on the surface of the soil. There should be a rubber wheel behind the sowing elements, which will additionally close the sowing rows.
The distance between the rows can be 12.5-25cm, a distance of 50cm is also acceptable, but a distance of 70cm should not be practiced because it is too wide, i.e. these soybean plants have a slightly smaller habit and branch less and they cannot close the inter-row distance of 70 cm, and then you will have weed penetration, drying and loss of moisture.
The sowing rate to be achieved is 600,000 grains/ha of the ES Comandor, Aurelina and Lissabon varieties.
During late sowing, the soil is quite warm, you can expect soybean germination in just 2-3 days, and you can see rows in just a few days. After sowing, do one irrigation in order to achieve an optimal assembly.
Fertilization
It would be good if you could do a soil analysis after the barley/wheat harvest and see how much nitrogen is left in the topsoil. If necessary, make one supplement with nitrogen fertilizer that has nitrogen in an easily accessible form with an amount of 30 kg of pure nitrogen/ha.
If you notice in your soybean crop (the stage of a couple of trefoils and more) that the plants do not have a nice green color but rather lighter towards yellow, then it is possible that nitrogen depression has occurred, i.e. that microorganisms are using available nitrogen to break down crop residues/straw, and soybeans are not able to use that nitrogen. In that case, you can apply the top dressing that we wrote about in the paragraph above, preferably the top dressing should be done immediately before the rainfall.
Also, for soybeans, a foil fertilizer that contains pine is always useful because it has a positive effect on better fertilization and seeding of pods.
Crop protection and weed control
Weed protection technology is very different from spring sowing soybean technology. Monitor your field, carry out anti-weed treatments only if your plant protection expert judges that treatment with some of the agents is necessary, it is recommended to use split applications and, if necessary, only one split application. In accordance with the profession - it is necessary to take into account the weather conditions and not to carry out treatments at high temperatures, but only according to the advice of experts in plant protection.
During the phenophase of intense flowering and pod setting, it is possible for the cotton owl butterfly (Helicoverpa armigera) to appear, feeding on soybean pollen and laying eggs on the plants. If you notice intense egg laying by this owl or any other, it is necessary to apply chemical treatment in accordance with the recommendation of plant protection experts.
Inter-row cultivation can only be done by those who have sown soybeans at 50 cm.
Harvest
Late soybeans reach technological maturity approximately 90-100 days after germination. In our region, this means that soybeans sown in mid-June are ready for harvest by late September, coinciding with the harvest period for late-maturing soybean varieties. During this time, all silos accept soybeans, ensuring a smooth process for receiving and selling your crop. Our experience indicates an average yield of about 2.5 t/ha, with some achieving yields of 3-3.5 t/ha. The yield is significantly influenced by the sowing time—the earlier in June, the higher the yield.
