Greg Anderson knows he’s an outlier.
The northeast Nebraska farmer has routinely planted continuous soybeans where conventional wisdom would suggest farmers stick with a corn-soybean rotation.
Anderson isn’t suggesting other growers abandon convention. He’s quick to say continuous soybeans aren’t for everyone.
But on his farm near Newman Grove, Neb., the system has worked well enough to keep him coming back to the practice since 1990.
“I don’t recommend that for everybody, but it has worked for me,” Anderson recently told Chip Flory on AgriTalk.
36 Years In, Still Experimenting
What those three-plus decades haven’t done is convince Anderson he has soybeans figured out. If anything, they’ve made him more willing to experiment.
He continues to test maturity groups, planting dates and harvest timing, looking for ways to spread risk and capture more of the crop’s potential.
This year, that meant pushing maturity diversification further than he has in the past.
In northeast Nebraska, soybean maturity groups generally run in the 2.5 to 3.0 range.
This spring, Anderson added something considerably earlier — Group 1.5 soybeans.
April Planting Pays Off
He planted the first of them April 12, well ahead of his crop insurance planting date.
The beans emerged quickly, but faced weather challenges.
“They came right up, and then we had some frost advisories out,” Anderson says. “But they were OK. We escaped that.”
Now, those early beans are giving him what he hoped for: another harvest window to help spread risk.
The Group 1.5 beans are shorter than his typical soybeans, but Anderson says they’re carrying a heavy pod load. After a stretch of dry weather, August rains arrived at a critical time.
“Pods are stacked,” Anderson says. “There’s not much space between nodes.”
He expects to put the combine into some of the earliest soybeans by late September.
The Moisture Management Challenge
That earlier harvest is important for another reason. Anderson is trying to manage one of the most frustrating variables in soybean production: harvest moisture.
Soybeans can move quickly from ready to harvest to too dry, making harvest timing a management decision with a direct impact on a farmer’s bottom line.
Anderson would rather take a small moisture dock than watch soybeans dry past their optimum harvest window.
“If we can, I’d love to combine beans at 13.5% to 14.3%,” he says, noting sometimes he does choose to take a moisture dock.
Beans that hit an ideal moisture range one day can be considerably drier the next, particularly when weather accelerates drydown.
That’s an issue Ken Ferrie, Farm Journal Field Agronomist, sees frequently.
“We can start harvest in the morning and beans will be 13.5%, and before you finish late in the afternoon, they’re down to 9%,” he says. “You’re giving away bushels.”
The Hidden Cost of Overly Dry Beans
Many growers focus on avoiding moisture discounts but overlook the loss that comes from harvesting overly dry soybeans.
“A lot of guys compare 14.5% beans with a dock to standard beans they don’t get docked on,” Ferrie says. “They don’t compare it to the 8% beans they’re actually getting.”
That’s where multiple maturities can become a management tool.
Anderson’s goal is to have soybeans reaching maturity at different times so he can keep the combine moving and capture more of the crop in the 12% to 14% moisture range.
The strategy isn’t foolproof. Extreme drought can compress maturity differences, causing several varieties to dry down nearly simultaneously and narrowing the harvest window.
Still, the early Group 1.5s give Anderson another piece of the puzzle.
August Rains Change the Outlook
The strategy looks even more promising after an August that brought welcome moisture to Anderson’s farm.
He recorded 5.3 inches of rain during the month — a sharp turnaround from the dry conditions that had challenged the crop earlier in the season.
“Can’t remember how many years it’s been since we’ve had above-normal rainfall in August,” Anderson says. “It’s really turned a lot of things around for the better.”
The plants are carrying good pod counts going into September, with pods packed closely along the nodes. Now he’s watching seed size, another variable that can make a meaningful difference in final yield outcome.
“What I’m looking forward to is some pretty good-sized soybean seeds this year,” he says. “There’s a lot of difference between a 2,500-seeds-per-pound or a 3,500-seeds-per-pound.”
What Research Says About Continuous Soybeans
Recent research from Iowa State University indicates continuous soybeans can be a viable option for farmers willing to invest the time and management the system requires. Because continuous soybeans eliminate the cost of rotating into corn, the economics may become more attractive when nitrogen and other crop-production inputs are expensive.
But the system comes with agronomic considerations.
University of Minnesota Extension recommends that growers considering continuous soybeans soil-test fields, evaluate plant populations and use soybean cyst nematode-resistant varieties. Planting susceptible varieties continuously can favor SCN buildup.
Anderson has spent more than three decades learning those lessons firsthand.
His experience hasn’t led him to conclude there is one formula for continuous soybeans. Instead, it has reinforced the value of adapting to the year, testing new ideas and paying attention to details that can add up at harvest.
This year, that means earlier maturity groups and a wider spread in planting and harvest timing.
Next year, it could mean something else.
“I’m still learning,” Anderson says. “There’s a lot to learn on this bean thing. They can fool you up.”
