Daren Mueller, ISU Extension plant pathologist, and Mark Licht, ISU Extension cropping systems agronomist, are part of a regional team participating in a Soybean Yield Benchmarking project. The aim of this project is to generate baseline farmer data on current soybean management practices and is funded by soybean checkoff funds through the North Central Soybean Research Program (NCSRP). The goal of this project is to identify key factors that prohibit soybean farmers from obtaining yields that should be potentially possible on their respective 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”.
Preliminary findings from 2014 and 2015 field data collection has indicated a yield gap from farmer realized yields to estimated yield potential of 23.4%. The highest yield potentials are associated with early planting dates. Although there are some minor association with management practices such as foliar fungicide/insecticide applications and artificial drainage systems.
Without the participation of Iowa farmers this large scale determination fo factors leading to high yields would not be possible. Iowa farmers contributed 370 fields for 2014, 430 fields for 2015, and 350 fields for 2016. Our goal is to have 500 fields for 2017.
We are asking soybean farmers to provide us with yield and other agronomic data specific to their soybean production fields. With these data, we will be conducting an in‐depth analysis of what factors might be causing a Yield Gap. We intend to provide annual reports to all soybean farmers based on our analysis of the data collected from farms across Iowa and major soybean growing areas of the Midwest and are likely limiting you from achieving soybean yields closer to the yield potential that is likely possible on your farms!
Keep in mind that all data submissions will be kept strictly confidential. Farmer name, mailing address, and email address are asked only to provide summary results back to survey participants. Identifying information will not be associated with the individual field survey information. However, if you want to omit name, address, and email that is fine too.
We look forward to receiving your data before March 1, 2018. Please complete the survey (PDF) form and mail to Mark Licht, Iowa State University, 2104M Agronomy Hall, Ames, IA 50011.
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 might be holding back your current yields.