Hopping out of the truck, I wasn’t impressed when I looked over the Soybean Watch ’25 field. It was late July, and agronomist Steve Gauck and I were going to assess progress of the field so far. It was planted around May 13, and unseasonably cool, wet weather slowed down germination and emergence and resulted in a final average population around 85,000 plants per acre.
“These plants are shorter than they ought to be for this time of year,” I said, after greeting Gauck. “I don’t foresee a lot of high yield potential here.”
“Don’t be so sure,” he countered. “Let’s take a closer look before you write them off.” Gauck, Greensburg, Ind., a regional agronomy manager for Beck’s, has lots of experience walking and scouting soybean fields. Beck’s sponsors Soybean Watch ’25.
Soon, he was pulling up a plant. “Look at all these branches,” he said, smiling. “A plant can be short, but if it branches out, it can make up for lack of height rather quickly.”
Indeed, he soon proved his point. He counted what he called “places for potential pods.” Still in the R2 stage, where all pods would form wasn’t yet determined. But this plant was packed full of nodes, with several flowers per node. Some will abort, but many will form, retain and fill pods.
Thin vs. thick stands
Gauck counted 26 potential podding points on the first plant which he checked. Then he checked another and found 30 podding points. Finding a spot where soybeans were thicker, he checked a plant that didn’t have many branches. It only had about 20 podding points.
“Based on what we normally see, 20 is average, and 26 to 30 are well above average,” he said. “When plants have more neighbors, they don’t tend to branch as much. That is how low populations which you hear about still produce good yields in many cases.”
Indeed, in an Ohio State University trial in 2024, Larua Lindsey, an OSU agronomist, harvested 74 bushels per acre from soybeans planted in late March in western Ohio, although the final stand count was only 42,000 plants per acre. It was statistically as good as any other plot in the trial, and much better than plots planted in mid-June.
“I have seen 100-bushel soybeans before, and they weren’t as tall as many other fields I have seen,” Gauck continued. “Height doesn’t tell the whole story when it comes to soybean yields. Things like distance between nodes and how many nodes are on branches are important.”
Still, I asked, “Why do these soybeans seem shorter than normal? In other years, similar varieties have grown taller.”
Gauck answered: “Cool weather likely got them off to a slow start. They haven’t grown as tall, but they have packed in nodes since they were slower growing. Look at how close together nodes are on the first plant I pulled. And look at the potential places for pods. Those factors are more important than the height of the plant.”
Crop update:
Heat, disease add potholes in road to high yields
Enthusiasm was building over the past few weeks for a good outcome for soybeans across the U.S. It certainly was reflected in high yield estimates in the August USDA crop estimates. However, it now appears there may be bumpier roads than expected ahead. Hot weather and diseases may take the top end off yield potential, at least in some areas.
Here are the latest reports from various locations:
Greetings from southwest Iowa. “We once again received ample rain for much of my area, and in some cases too much. Those areas that received big rains in the last couple weeks are starting to show signs of soybeans going backwards in waterlogged areas.
“Hopefully, with a drier forecast, those areas won’t lose as much yield as they are showing right now. Most soybeans I’ve looked at recently are either late R4 or R5 stage.
“Sudden death syndrome has really started to rear its ugly head in many fields across Iowa. In many cases, it is noticeable from the road. Other fields only show random plants as I’m out walking fields. We will see a reduced yield in a few of those fields with heavy pressure.
“Yields are still looking to be strong across most of Iowa. I am seeing and hearing some high pod counts. As we start to finish up this year’s crop, good temps and ample moisture should really drive seed size and yields.” — Nate Meyer, Beck’s field agronomist
Hit and miss in Indiana. August rains have blessed some folks in the Hoosier State, but not everyone. Storms over the weekend of Aug. 15-17 left some heavier-than-expected rains in some areas but missed other areas.
One constant was lower temperatures and humidity during the last 10 days of August. That should help most plants. Steve Gauck of Beck’s found some pods where individual beans had aborted, likely due to heat, by mid-August.
On another positive note, disease pressure and insect pressure both remain negligible across Indiana on soybeans. Remaining weather patterns will be critical as to how the crop finishes. Remember that a good portion of Indiana’s first-crop soybeans, especially in the southern half of the state, were planted later than normal. — Tom J. Bechman, Farm Progress Midwest crops editor
Scattered storms in Illinois. Rainfall events so far in August have also been hit and miss in Illinois. Central Illinois near Springfield missed rains on the weekend of Aug. 15-17, but some areas in east-central Illinois received rain.
Areas around the Farm Progress Show at Decatur received an inch to over an inch of rain Aug. 18-19. Summer thunderstorms are notorious for hitting some areas and not others, and that seems to be the pattern so far in August. — Tom J. Bechman, Farm Progress Midwest crops editor
Moving into home stretch in Michigan. “Soybeans are progressing well throughout the state. Much of Michigan has received needed rainfall that should help with pod fill over the next few weeks. Nearly all fields are beyond where any management strategy with crop protection or nutritional products would help. While most fields likely won’t be breaking records, a couple more rains will push much of the crop to a nice finish.
“We are seeing SDS develop in fields. It is still on the early side to determine the extent of this disease this season. However, it does appear that we are starting to see impacts of poor planting conditions that some farmers faced this year.
“At this point in the season, white mold levels in most areas seem to be low. We will continue to monitor fields for disease progression.” — Aaron Brooker, Beck’s field agronomist