AMS Adds Bushels And Good ROI To Missouri Farmer’s Soybeans
As Brian Ray heads to fields this spring, he plans to lay the groundwork for a higher yield average in soybeans by using ammonium sulfate (AMS). Specifically, he plans to use 100 pounds of AMS per acre in a preplant application.
“I think we can hit a 70-bushel average or higher over some of our acres,” says Ray, who’s based in southeast Missouri, near East Prairie, and grows beans after beans.
“I don’t expect that yield average over the whole farm because it’s stretched across 30 miles and has a lot of different soil types – from sand to heavy gumbo – but I believe we can achieve that in some of our fields.”
Strong Emergence And Vigor
Ray’s decision is based on a field trial he ran with AMS last season. He believes the broadcast application gave the crop a needed boost of nitrogen and sulfur, providing it with a strong start that continued to build until harvest.
“We ran 80-foot strips of 100 pounds of AMS across the field and saw a 9.5 bu. average increase in the strips,” he says.
That particular field was planted on May 1, which was considerably later than the rest of the crop. Ray says he started planting soybeans in mid-April and had most of the crop in by April 20.
Despite being planted last, from the get-go Ray says the soybeans that had access to AMS performed better. They were vigorous early on and reached canopy closure faster than the rest of his crop.
Then, between R1 and R2, Ray pulled tissue samples and did pod counts. “Where we had applied the AMS, the beans were substantially healthier with a larger root mass and a third more pods per plant versus where we didn’t have the AMS,” he recalls. “It was impressive, to say the least.”
Higher Fertility For Higher Yields
Historically, Brent Peters says farmers growing beans after beans in southeast Missouri have invested few dollars in fertility. But that’s changing.
“We're seeing farmers put much more focus on fertility in soybeans, and it's paying dividends,” says Peters, agronomic sales representative for Delta Growers Association, a full-service cooperative serving area farmers.
The farmers who are benefiting most, Peters says, are those who, like Ray, grow beans following beans rather than those in a corn-soybean rotation.
“These are fields that had the bare minimum where we’re now seeing leaps and bounds in gain because the farmer is paying close attention to fertility,” Peters says. “We’re going from 50- to 60-bushel yields up to 65, 70, 80, and even some 90s now with soybeans.”
Peters and Ray theorize on how the AMS is contributing to improved yields. Ray says he believes the nitrogen gives soybeans a jumpstart, an added boost before they start producing their own nitrogen.
Peters says, based on extensive soil testing he’s done, that today’s soybean crop often benefits from the addition of sulfur because crops can no longer access atmospheric sulfur, thanks to reduced pollution levels.
He adds that he likes to see AMS or an AMS-type product, such as MES-10 – which he says is similar to DAP – or Aspire – which contains boron – applied early.
“We’ve tried a variety of application timings, including at the four to six trifoliate, and we do not get the gain here like we do with a preplant application,” Peters says. “From seedling to about the four-leaf stage is where the crop is showing more gain than at any other time.”
Benefits Are Available In Corn-Soybean Rotations
Missy Bauer, Farm Journal Field Agronomist, based in south-central Michigan, is seeing benefits from the use of sulfur in soybeans grown in corn-soybean rotations. She's found adding AMS at V3 or V4 growth stages can make the most significant impact on yields in soils with less organic matter.
“In our three-year trial, we're looking at just shy of a 4 bu. per acre response to putting sulfur on soybeans mid-season,” Bauer says. “The economics—before soybean prices really rose—were just shy of $19 net per acre.”
Peters says he is seeing excellent return-on-investment and is telling southeast Missouri farmers who haven’t been fertilizing soybeans to consider applying 100 pounds of AMS to their bean ground. He says it should deliver at least 4 additional bushels to yields.
“With $12 soybeans that's $48 an acre,” he says. “The application and fertilizer is probably a little less than $30 an acre, so you're looking at $20 bucks an acre in your pocket. If you have 1,000 acres of beans, that adds up pretty fast.”
Ray is banking on AMS being a good investment, despite the lower commodity prices projected for 2024.
“We're kind of figuring with down prices, the only way we can make up for the monetary loss is in bushels,” he says. “We believe going with the AMS could help us see some profits.”
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