The Rural Voice, 1978-08, Page 30Think soybeans
for 1979
If you farm north of a line drawn from
Sarnia to Hamilton in southern Ontario,
you probably think of soybeans as a
curiosity. rather than a cash crop. Plant
breeders are determined to change that
opinion. With the release of the Maple
Arrow variety, they feel they have cracked
the 2600 heat unit barrier. Varieties such
as Vansoy and Beechwood proved that
soybeans could be grown through most of
the 2600 to 2900 heat unit sections of the
province. Maple Arrow, with the same
maturity but higher yielding ability, is only
the beginning of short -season, high -
yielding soybean varieties coming out of
the breeding program.
This new breed of soybean has a double
advantage for soybean production in
Ontario. It not only opens up the possibility
of a new cash crop for farmers from
Montreal to Goderich, it also gives growers
in the southwest a better opportunity for
double cropping. Since Ontario produces
only half the soybeans used in the
province, there is little for holding back on
growing this crop.
The new short -season, high yielding
soybeans varieties are better because of
many improvements blended together.
Advantages such as carrying pods higher
off the ground, sturdier plants, ability to
grow and yield in 7 -inch rows at 4 -inch
spacings, the ability to mature regardless
of day length, increased disease resistance
especially to phytophthora root rot, higher
protein and lower oil levels are all being
introduced to an early -maturing, cold -
tolerant group of soybean types in the
breeding program. Comginations of these
advantages in new varieties are payingoff
in increased yields of 5 to 15 bushels per
acre.
That extra 10 bushels per acre means
quite a bit. The average yield through the
Montreal to Goderich area is about 20 to 25
bushes per acre. Cost of materials amounts
to about $40 per acre. Field operations cost
$30. harvesting and marketing another
$25, plus land and other charges running
about $65. That's a total of about $160 per
acre. Soybeans have been selling at
between $5 and $6 per bushel over the last
three or four years. A 25 -bushel crop does
not leave you laughing all the way to the
bank, but a 35 - or 40 -bushel crop will.
Soybeans are worth a second look for a
livestock operator who is growing corn. has
cleaned up his fields, and built up their
fertility. As Maple Arrow and its
succes"ors become available in quantity
[1979-1980]. soybeans may become a
feasible alternate or cash crop in areas
other than the southwest.
Enough of the improved short -season
varieties is available for trial and
demonstration plots throughout the
province in 1978. Your soils and crops
specialist, agricultural representative, and
Soil and Crop Improvement Association
will be able to direct you to the closest
demonstration area. Take a look at the
crop, add up the pros and cons, and you
might decide soybeans are for you for '79.
New varieties are not a magic wand, but
they do increase the odds in your favor. If
you have never grown soybeans before,
there are some important factors to
consider before jumping into such a
program.
This crop calls for a well -drained silt or
clay loam soil. Soybeans will not tolerate
drought or wet feet. They will tolerat, e
some atrazine residue but if more than a
pound active per acre was used the
previous year, there may be injury.
Soybean plants will produce at high
levels only if inoculated by the bacteria that
form nodules on the roots and extract
nitrogen from the air. When growing
soybeans in a field for the first time, these
bacteria must be introduced into the 'sail at
time of planting. This can be done easily by
using granular inoculant applied through
the fertilizer attachment on a drill or
through modified granular insecticide
attachments on a corn planter. Seed must
be treated with a fungicide -insecticide to
protect seedlings early in the season.
• Innes bean
windrowers
• Maurer bean
pullers
• Replacement bean
equipmend parts
• New M -C dryers
• Used grain
dryers
• M -C dryer parts
• Hutchinson grain
augers
• Related corn storage products
M•C
MATHEWS COMPANY
BE SURE TO PICK UP YOUR
FREE NEW M -C CATALOG!
Haugh
1
QUALITY PRODUCTS
AND
FRIENDLY SERVICE
•
[33 MATHEWS
COMPANY
Grain Drying Specialist
FARM AND COMMERCIAL
BINS
DRYERS
COMPARE AND SAVE!
We're your one-stop source for all your grain handling
equipment needs. You will find our prices competitive
and our quality superior.
Brucefield, Ontario, Canada (519) 527-0138
R.IG7 30 THE RURAL VOICE/AUGUST 1978.
One mile east of Brucefield on Huron No. 3