Increasing Yields and Profitability for Mid-Atlantic Double-Crop Soybean.

Soybean is the foundation for row crop production in the Mid-Atlantic region of the U.S.  Approximately half of the soybean in this region is double cropped after wheat and this system contributes greatly to the overall profitability of agriculture. Double cropping soybean with small grain allows the farmer to meet environmental goals and regulations through no-tillage and the use of a “harvestable cover crop”. However, soybean yield suffers due to late planting. To increase production and meet profitability, environmental, and sustainability goals, yields and quality of double-crop wheat and soybean will need to improve and be more competitive with full-season systems. Therefore, the goal of this project is to increase yield and profitability of double-crop small grain-soybean systems.  Objectives include: 1) Create a database/clearinghouse of knowledge, research, and Extension recommendations for double-crop soybean production in the Mid-Atlantic that includes an exhaustive literature review and meta-analysis and a user-friendly, web-based, smartphone-compatible information management system/platform; 2) Create a coordinated Mid-Atlantic on-farm research structure to discover, validate, and increase the use of environmentally responsible practices that increase efficiency and profitability of double-crop soybean that uses local on-farm data to assist in making regional recommendations and allows farmers to test practices and products on their own farm with their own equipment, allowing them to compare results with similar trials in other areas; 3) Research practices that lead to earlier small-grain harvest without adverse effects on yield, providing for an earlier planting date for double-crop soybean; and 4) Investigate state-specific production practices that will feed data into the overall Mid-Atlantic effort, tapping into that state’s production system and expertise.