Soya bean Spring crop or not

[Stoneton]

What do people think of Spring sown soya beans grown in the uk do any of you grow it does it pay and is what chemicals can u spray for weed control

 

[moretimeforgolf]

Giving it a try this spring through Soya Uk. We have our own micro climate on this peninsula and will be looking to make a better margin than Spring beans with an early September harvest. Prices aren't looking great at the moment but what is !

 

[Stoneton]

Have u any idea on yield what have you heard it can do per acre

 

[moretimeforgolf]

Apparently 2.5t/ha but I was told that about linseed too ! I'm aiming for 2t/ha ...its on good ground following a cover crop, close to home so I can keep the pigeons off !

 

[An Gof]

Grew them once, never again!
Set your budget yield at 1.5 t/ha and see how it performs then

 

[Honest john]

Would Fallow not make more sense.
The Good looking crops at Stamford last year did less than 2tph.
It's not worth ware and tare on your kit ( is it )

Unless you just grow them for fun.

 

[Brisel]

@Simon Chiles

 

[Adeptandy]

Was an expensive experiment for me last year, think a lot will depend on your land from what I experienced

 

[farming4profit]

Was an expensive experiment for me last year, think a lot will depend on your land from what I experienced

There are four crops going in on your doorstep with four very different (in degrees of capability) growers this spring so we will soon find out!

 

[Adeptandy]

I will be interested in the outcome

Just out of interest, would they be on silt, heavy clay or black fen land, all 3 are in my area ?
If its the black fen, I'll be surprised if it pays

 

[farming4profit]

One's on the sixteen foot, one at Chatteris - so there are at least two within a gnat's crotchet of you. The benefit of the Stamford crop to the farmer in question was that he was able to significantly knock his blackgrass on the head in the fields in question (heavy ground that was infested with the stuff) and get what turned out to be a break even crop out of the job. I think what caused the yield shortfall was the rain in August/September. Had we had a sunny harvest it would have been a different story. There was also a sizeable amount of soluble N available to the following wheat crop.

Each year seems to throw a different weather pattern at us currently. If we have a wet harvest start followed by dry that ought to be good for soya and crap for Skyfall wheat which we all know has a poor sprouting score while Trinity winter wheat with its 350+ hagberg and (7) sprouting score ought to sale through such weather.

The more variation in what we grow will weather-proof us against disaster (sorry shot off at a tangent there!)

 

[spin cycle]

i heard of one grower a few years ago who harvested less kg/ha than he planted

 

[Adeptandy]

One's on the sixteen foot, one at Chatteris - so there are at least two within a gnat's crotchet of you. The benefit of the Stamford crop to the farmer in question was that he was able to significantly knock his blackgrass on the head in the fields in question (heavy ground that was infested with the stuff) and get what turned out to be a break even crop out of the job. I think what caused the yield shortfall was the rain in August/September. Had we had a sunny harvest it would have been a different story. There was also a sizeable amount of soluble N available to the following wheat crop.

Each year seems to throw a different weather pattern at us currently. If we have a wet harvest start followed by dry that ought to be good for soya and crap for Skyfall wheat which we all know has a poor sprouting score while Trinity winter wheat with its 350+ hagberg and (7) sprouting score ought to sale through such weather.

The more variation in what we grow will weather-proof us against disaster (sorry shot off at a tangent there!)

I really hope they do well as I think its something that would be good to develop, but I threw a fortune at it last year and my BG got worse to the point I've had to Glysophate the W Wheat and now about to redrill the field.

 

[Simon Chiles]

@Simon Chiles

That took you longer to post that than I thought you would.

I'm sure attention to detail reaps the rewards coupled with knowledge. If you wanted me to score the ease of growing soya ( where 1 is easy and 10 difficult ) then I'd rate it as an 8. Several keys to success are planting at an exact depth ( soya has a fixed hypercotyal ) into a seedbed that's free from compaction and with sufficient retained moisture to ensure the rhizobium stays alive. Soya needs 240 units of N per acre which can be supplied easily by the rhizobium. If it were legal to give it a sniff of N just to get it going it would be useful but not too much otherwise it won't form its own nodules. Keeping the pigeons of in the first weeks between emergence and the first true ( hairy ) leaves is essential. Soya , like Lupins, have juicy cotyledons. Weed control should be easy, there is a wide choice of chemistry that you can use. Soya UK would be the best place for advice on what to spray. Attention to detail is also very important when it comes to desiccating the crop, a huge amount of yield can be lost by going even a few days to early. Technically it should be capable of 5t/ha but in reality 2-3t would be nearer the mark for a good crop. Because the price is relatively good even a mediocre crop should outperform an average crop of beans on margin. It's N legacy should be 80 units. The seed is relatively expensive but all other inputs are cheap. If you're going to make the effort to grow it well then it's probably worth doing.

 

[farming4profit]

i heard of one grower a few years ago who harvested less kg/ha than he planted

If its the one I'm thinking of it was planted into sand and it did not rain from the moment he drilled it until the day of harvest. He had a good crop of volunteer millet though!

 

[Clive]

Good luck !

Planted a crop the last 2 years

Yet to harvest one still !

Have a search on here, there are several threads re pro's and cons and reasons for success / failure

 

[moretimeforgolf]

Drilling our soya today. A bit of a cold start but the field conditions are good. Going into a sandy loam following an overwinter cover crop. Will roll tomorrow and then give another sniff of glyphosate when this wind drops. May well give it a dose of Sluxx as slugs have been a real nightmare elsewhere this Spring.

 

[Clive]

Drilling our soya today. A bit of a cold start but the field conditions are good. Going into a sandy loam following an overwinter cover crop. Will roll tomorrow and then give another sniff of glyphosate when this wind drops. May well give it a dose of Sluxx as slugs have been a real nightmare elsewhere this Spring.

are you planning a pre em ?

good luck, I hope you can make them work

 

[moretimeforgolf]

are you planning a pre em ?

good luck, I hope you can make them work

Cheers. Not planning a pre-em, I read about your suspicions last year!
Just hope the forecast is right and it warms up next week.

 

[shakerator]

Drilling our soya today. A bit of a cold start but the field conditions are good. Going into a sandy loam following an overwinter cover crop. Will roll tomorrow and then give another sniff of glyphosate when this wind drops. May well give it a dose of Sluxx as slugs have been a real nightmare elsewhere this Spring.

What's your soil temperature ?