BLOOMINGTON, Ill. —  Research reports on soybean yield, herbicide application timing and the battle to contain soybean cyst nematode (SCN) are among the studies spotlighted in the Illinois Soybean Association’s (ISA) 2024 Annual Insights Report. Jennifer Jones, research specialist for the ISA, said their first annual Insights Report quantifies the checkoff-driven research conducted by the organization on behalf of the state’s farmers. 

“The Insights Report was developed by our agronomy team in conjunction with researchers who were funded to conduct soybean production research projects in the 2024 growing season. The report does not feature all of the projects we funded, as some of the projects are yet to be concluded. Some of those will be highlighted next year instead,” said Jones, an agronomist based out of Effingham in southern Illinois. 

While a couple of the 2024 project summaries were written by the ISA agronomy team, they ultimately were authored by independent researchers and agronomists working in conjunction with the soybean growers. “Each article came directly from the researchers’ final reports, and our team condensed the reports to make them farmer-focused along with our communications team,” Jones noted. 

The project titles are “Can Soybean Yields Be Increased With Direct Fertilizer Applications?,” “Growing an On-Farm Trial Network,” “How Widespread is Resistance to Group 15 Herbicides in Illinois Waterhemp Populations?,” “Illinois SCN Survey Results,” “In the Field and Informed: How the Field Advisor Crop Report Supports Illinois Soybean Farmers,” “What Are New SOYLEIC Varieties That Are High-Yielding and Offer a Value-Added Market Opportunity,” “Which Practices Improve Soil Health, Water Quality and Ecosystem Markets for Farmers?,” “What Insect Pests and Thresholds Require Insecticide Use or Seed Treatment in Soybeans?,” “Which Preemergence Herbicides May Injure Early Planted Soybeans?” and “Which Wheat Varieties Tolerate Spring Freezes and Enable Earlier Harvest for Timely Double-Crop Soybeans?”

Most project summaries come with an Illinois county map that illustrates the areas in which the particular projects were conducted, allowing producers to focus on particular areas of personal interest, Jones noted. 

“For each project we tried to pull out a key takeaway, which the farmer can read to learn how to apply to their own fields right away. The report is not too hefty; we tried to make it very manageable to read so that a farmer can easily determine which results they are interested in reading,” she said.  

All project summaries are similar in presentation in that they all describe project leaders, project purpose, approach and results. For example, the purpose of the field trial “Can Soybean Yields Be Increased With Direct Fertilizer Applications?” is described as “Most corn-soybean rotations, fertilizer applications are typically made to maximize corn yields, with less consideration of their impact on soybean yields. This project tests how direct soybean fertilization affects yields and evaluates the potential return on investment compared to conventional soybean production.”

The project’s approach: On-farm trials in central Illinois were conducted in 2023 and 2024 to test yield response to controlled-release N, P, K and S fertilizers in a strip-till system. Products tested included controlled-release urea with a 140-day delay before release, along with potash, Mosaic Aspire, Mosaic MESZ and pelletized gypsum. The trials also compared 15 inch and 30 inch row spacings. The plot followed an omission-style layout to evaluate each fertilizer’s contribution to yield. The treatments in 2024 were modified to add more combinations as a result of 2023 yield results. 

The results: 

• Row spacing and fertilizer had little consistent impact on soybean yields. 

• In the warm, dry spring of 2023, untreated 15 inch soybeans (95.4 bushels per acre) yielded highest compared to 30 inch regardless of fertilizer products (92.8-93.9 bushels per acre). 

• In 2024, the lowest yields came from untreated 15 inch soybeans (72.9 bushels per acre), while the two highest yields were from 15 inch rows (77.3 bushels per acre) and 30 inch rows (77.1 bushels per acre). Both had all fertilizer products. These were closely followed by the untreated 30 inch rows (76.5 bushels per acre). 

• In 2024, April and May were very wet and prevented timely planting. This impacted yields, emphasizing the importance of planting as early as possible (April 1 for central Illinois).