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Can you harvest soybeans in the winter?
Another good practice for harvesting soybeans in wet and snow covered conditions is to reduce the combine ground speed while harvesting.
When should soybeans be harvested?
In late September, the soybeans begin to mature. As the days get shorter and the temperatures get cooler, the leaves on soybean plants begin to turn yellow. By mid-October and November, the leaves will turn brown and fall off, exposing the matured pods of soybeans. The soybeans are now ready to be harvested.
Can you harvest soybeans after a frost?
Frost-damaged soybeans are generally considered salvageable for grain harvest as long as the plants reached the R6 growth stage at the time the killing frost occurred.
How wet can you harvest soybeans?
Harvesting a Wet Crop Soybeans can be harvested successfully as long as the moisture content is 20% or below. However, harvesting above 13 to 15% grain moisture plant stems will be difficult to cut, so ensure cutter knives are sharp and the cutter bar is in good condition.
What is the average yield of soybeans per acre?
With record high yields in 21 states, the average soybean yield is estimated at 51.4 bushels per acre, 0.4 bushel above 2020 and the second highest on record.
How long can soybeans stay in the ground?
If soybean plants are submerged for less than 48 hours, there is a good chance they will survive. Plants can survive under water longer under cool than warm temperatures. Submerged soybean plants can survive for up to 7 days when temperatures are less than 80 degrees F.
What temp kills soybeans?
28 to 30 degrees FahrenheitTo kill soybean tissue, temperatures usually need to be at or below 28 to 30 degrees Fahrenheit for several hours. However, an air temperature of 28 does not guarantee a soybean crop will freeze.
What temperature do soybeans freeze?
The critical temperature for freeze injury to emerged soybeans is 28 F. Temperatures at or below 28 F for more than a few hours at a time can cause plant death. While plant death after the occurrence of below-freezing temperatures is a possibility, that is not always the case.
What happens to soybeans when they freeze?
Frosted/frozen soybean plants/fields will turn color within a week or so, but may be slower to lose all their leaves. Allowing them to stand and "field dry" has been a good practice in the past.
How dry do soybeans need to be to store?
The high oil content of soybeans makes them even more susceptible to spoilage than corn; therefore soybeans need to be about two points dryer than corn for proper storage. For winter storage, store commercial soybeans at 13% moisture or less. Soybeans with less than 15% moisture can be dried with bin fans.
What is the disadvantage of harvesting soybeans at 10% moisture instead of 13% moisture?
Soybeans grown for seed should be harvested at moisture levels near 13 percent to optimize seed quality. The risk of reducing seed quality increases significantly as the moisture level in the seed falls below 10 percent, so seed producers should wait for rain if moisture levels are below 10 percent.
What is considered dry for soybeans?
By definition, a standard bushel of soybeans weighs 60 pounds and is 13% moisture. Since 13% of the weight is water, only 87% is dry matter. The dry matter in a standard bushel is 52.2 lb (60 lb x 0.87) and the remaining 7.8 lb is water.
How do you harvest and store soybeans?
Storing Fresh or Dry Soybeans To remove the beans from their pods, pry apart the pod along the outer seam and pop out the large, green seeds inside. Edamame, or fresh soybeans, should be used within two to three days of harvest for the best flavor and texture.
Where do soybeans go after harvest?
Only about 15 percent of the soy crop goes to human consumption, primarily in the form of cooking oils, according to the USDA. Another 5 percent goes to biodiesel. The remainder gets split among a variety of uses, such as industrial applications and organic foods.
How do you harvest soybeans without a combine?
HOW TO HARVEST SOYBEANS WITHOUT A COMBINE. Grasp every pod on the stem and pull gently to remove it from the plant. Avoid squeezing the pods to avoid damage to the beans. Pick up the base of the plant stem, gently pull it out of the soil, and immediately harvest the entire plant.
How to thresh soybeans?
Threshing and cleaning high moisture soybeans is challenging. Achieving uniform feeding and keeping the threshing cylinder/rotor full are the first steps to improving threshing. Draper heads and air-assisted reels will improve the uniformity of feeding. If threshing is not satisfactory, try reducing the concave clearance first. This may increase plugging problems at the cylinder/rotor if the straw is tough. If plugging is a problem or unacceptable threshing occurs, increase the speed of the cylinder or rotor. Make incremental adjustments and check threshing performance and grain quality after each adjustment. It can be a balancing act to find the correct cylinder/rotor speed and concave clearance settings that provide acceptable threshing without causing excessive split or crushed beans.
Why is Michigan facing difficult farming decisions?
Michigan farmers faced difficult planting and farm management decisions due to excessive spring rainfall. Now they need to know the best ways to harvest immature crops. MSU Extension has educational resources to help farmers deal with these issues.
How to reduce soil compaction?
Soil compaction associated with wet harvest conditions can also reduce crop yields for several years. Modifying the combine by adding tracks or flotation tires may help improve flotation and traction and reduce soil compaction in wet conditions. Regardless of the tire configuration, using the minimum air pressure recommended by the manufacturer for the loaded combine is an effective way to reduce soil compaction.
Is Michigan still harvesting soybeans in 2021?
According to the United States Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Statistics Service, 51% of the Michigan soybean crop was still in the field as of Oct. 24, 2021. Given the calendar date and the projection for normal precipitation and below normal temperatures in the 6-10 day weather outlook, harvesting these fields will be challenging. The following recommendations from Michigan State University Extension will help producers overcome these challenges.
Do you have to check for harvest losses at the head?
I usually encourage producers to check for gathering losses at the head because under normal conditions, 80% of all harvest losses occur at the head. However, when harvesting soybeans this late, the tough stems and pods and softer seed will probably increase threshing and cleaning losses, so checking your losses behind the combine becomes equally important. For every four beans per square foot found on the ground, one bushel per acre of yield is lost.
Do you need to dry wet beans after harvest?
The wet beans will need to be dried or aerated immediately after harvest. Please see the MSU Extension article on drying and storing wet soybeans for recommendations. Producers planning to deliver wet soybeans directly to the elevator should determine the elevator’s maximum allowable moisture content prior to delivery.
Can soybeans be harvested when the moisture is below 20%?
The moisture content of the seed will also be high. In theory, soybeans can be harvested when the seed moisture is below 20%. Moisture testers and yield monitors are usually accurate when measuring soybean moisture. However, when soybeans are wet, Charles Hurburgh and Meaghan Andersen, Iowa State University Extension specialists, recommend checking your yield monitor or hand-held moisture meter against your grain buyer’s meter on at least three samples, as they tend to underestimate the grain moisture content by one to two points.
Why do soybeans end up in windrows?
Fine materials from any crop can end up in a windrow behind the combine because they cannot be thrown as far (due to air drag).
How much soybeans are lost in an acre?
To get an estimate of your soybean harvest loss, check an area of ten square feet. Approximately 40 soybeans lost in this area will add up to one bushel per acre. Make loss determinations at several locations and calculate an average. If losses are greater in this area, machine adjustments need to be made. A goal for good field conditions is to keep losses under one bushel per acre. The key to minimum loss is to adjust the combine for the crop conditions. Check losses periodically in the field, making the adjustments are well worth the time.
How to keep harvest loss under one bushel per acre?
A goal for good field conditions is to keep harvest loss under one bushel per acre. The key to minimum loss is to adjust the combine for your crop conditions. Check losses periodically in the field, making the adjustments are well worth the time. Weather and other factors beyond our control create challenges at harvest. Accept the effects of adverse weather and adjust your equipment, speed and attitude accordingly.
How much moisture does a bean need to be to harvest?
Complete the harvest as quickly as possible after beans reach 13 percent moisture content. Damage increases at lower moisture content (<10 percent) as well as at excessive moisture (> 14 percent).
Can beans fall through a threshing unit?
If beans are small, such as in a drought year, air flow may need to be reduced in the cleaning shoe and the openings in chaffer and sieve screens reduced to maintain air speed, yet allow beans to fall through. The threshing unit, cylinder-concave, or rotor-grate may also need to be adjusted for a smaller clearance. In the cleaning area, the cleaning sieve and/or the airflow may require adjustment.
How much of the soybean crop is lost during harvest?
Numerous tests of soybean combine losses show that up to 12 percent of the soybean crop is lost during harvest (Table 1). Harvesting losses cannot be reduced to zero, but they can be reduced to about 5 percent. Combines can be operated to reduce losses without affecting the harvesting rate. This guide describes the major sources of loss. Consider shatter losses of 2 percent acceptable. Average losses are 5 percent or more.
Who published Harvest Loss in Soybeans?
Finally, If you would like more reading on this I would direct you to navigate to the Agronomy Journal Publication, D. B. Philbrook and E.S. Oplinger, 1983, Harvest Loss in Soybeans, that address this issue in more detail.
