Row Spacing and Seeding Rate Effects on Soybean Seed Yield

Abstract

Soybean growers in the northern latitudes of the United States plant the crop in a wide range of row spacings although there has been a shift toward wider rows (>50 cm) in some Upper Midwest states in the last 5 years. The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of row spacing and seeding rate on the performance of soybean and to determine whether these management practices interact to influence soybean yield. A row spacing study was conducted at Aberdeen and Beresford, South Dakota, USA, in 2014 and 2015. The study had two row spacings (19 and 76 cm), four seeding rates (247,000, 333,500, 420,000, and 506,500 seeds ha (cid:1) 1 ), and two soybean varieties at each location. Soybean had greater stand establishment in 19 cm rows (6 – 10% higher) compared with 76 cm rows. Soybean in 19 cm rows yielded 0.8 – 10% more than in 76 cm rows depending on the location or year. Seed yield increased with increasing seeding rate with the highest seeding rate of 506,000 seeds ha (cid:1) 1 yielding greatest. The increase in seed yield due to the increase in seeding rate ranged from 3 to 7%. At each location, the longer duration soybean variety yielded higher than the shorter duration variety.