Question
Can your planting date affect your soybean yields and profitability per acre?
Answer
The correct answer is, “Yes.”
Reason
Multiple state extension agronomists have demonstrated the yield loss due to later planting dates over multiple years.
From the earliest planting date—around May1—the soybean crop will generally lose about 1/3 bushel per day of delay. A single day economic loss would be $4.00/a with $12.00/bu soybeans.
If the planting date is delayed 10 days, then the yield decrease could approximate 3.3 bu/a or $39.60/a.
