CFAES Give Today
Agronomic Crops Network

Ohio State University Extension

CFAES

What's Limiting Soybean Yield?

Soybean

As I travelled the state this winter, the same question came up, “What’s limiting soybean yield?  No matter what I do, I get the same soybean yield every year.”

With funding from the Ohio Soybean Council and North Central Soybean Research Program, I am embarking on a state-wide project aimed at generating some baseline producer data on current soybean management practices in Ohio’s production systems.  The project goal is to identify key factors that preclude the state soybean producers from obtaining yields that should be potentially possible on their respective individual farms.  The term used for the difference between what yield is possible on your farm each year and what yield you actually achieve is called a “Yield Gap.”

To participate in this research, please see the online survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ohiosoybean

We are asking crop producers in Ohio to provide us with yield and other agronomic data specific to their soybean production fields. With that data, we could then conduct an in‐depth analysis of what on‐farm factors might be causing a Yield Gap on producer farms. We intend to provide annual reports to all crop producers informing them of what factors we may have identified that, based on our analysis of the data collected from farms, are likely limiting you from achieving soybean yields closer to yield potential that is likely possible on your farms!

Specifically, we are requesting yield and other data specific to two 2015 fields of soybean and also two 2014 fields of soybeans, that YOU grew on your farm. We recognize that you may best remember the yields and related agronomic data for the 2015 season because you just harvested those fields within the past few months. However, we would very much appreciate additional data in the last two columns of the Survey Form for two 2014 soybean fields on your farm. If you cannot recall or do not have data for any given cell in the columns shown on the Survey Form, leave them blank.

We look forward to receiving your data. Keep in mind that all data submissions will be kept strictly confidential. In this project, our objective is to WORK FOR YOU. Our goal is to use the data YOU supply to help YOU get soybean yields on YOUR farm fields that, in the future, will be closer to the potential soybean yields that are possible on those fields, once you know what production system factors are holding back YOUR current soybean yields.

If you have any questions regarding this survey, please feel free to contact me at 614-292-9080 or lindsey.233@osu.edu.

Crop Observation and Recommendation Network

C.O.R.N. Newsletter is a summary of crop observations, related information, and appropriate recommendations for Ohio crop producers and industry. C.O.R.N. Newsletter is produced by the Ohio State University Extension Agronomy Team, state specialists at The Ohio State University and the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC). C.O.R.N. Newsletter questions are directed to Extension and OARDC state specialists and associates at Ohio State.

Author(s):