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Rotations
Soybean fits well in most eastern North Dakota crop rotations. Wheat yields at Fargo
were 35 percent greater when planted on soybean land than when following wheat, surpassing
other tested crops as a contributor to wheat crop yields the following year (Table 1).
Also, no-till wheat yields following soybean were higher than following other previous
crops. Studies from neighboring states have shown corn to yield better following soybean
than following corn. Soybean, a legume, provides a break in the biological cycle of
various cereal diseases, accounting for part of the recorded yield increases.
Table 1. Effect of previous crop on wheat yields under no-till and conventional
tillage systems at Fargo, N.D.
Conventional
Tillage |
No-Till |
|||
| Previous Crop |
Wheat |
Wheat on |
Wheat |
Wheat on |
(bu/A) |
(%) |
(bu/A) |
(%) |
|
| Wheat | 33.8 |
100 |
33.3 |
100 |
| Soybean | 45.3 |
134 |
44.9 |
135 |
| Sugarbeet | 40.8 |
121 |
38.8 |
117 |
| Sunflower | 39.3 |
116 |
39.1 |
117 |
| Corn | 38.6 |
114 |
37.3 |
112 |
| Flax | 38.0 |
112 |
37.5 |
113 |
| Barley | 37.0 |
109 |
36.0 |
108 |
| Source: Dept. of Crop and Weed Science at North Dakota State University, Eight (8) years (1977-1984). | ||||
Soybean should follow corn, wheat, barley or other grass crops in a rotation. Soybean
should not follow alfalfa, dry edible beans, canola, or sunflower where white mold disease
(Sclerotinia sclerotia) has been detected. White mold has occasionally reduced soybean
yield in North Dakota. White mold uses soybean as a host and this allows the organism to
carry-over to other susceptible crops. Broadleaf crops such as dry edible bean and
sunflower should not follow soybean where white mold was present.
White mold usually has been observed in solid-seeded fields of soybean, whereas the problem has seldom been reported in 30-inch row or wider spaced plantings. If soybean are to be planted on white mold-infected land, planting in 30-inch or wider rows is recommended. This allows increased air movement and reduces the chance that the disease will develop to an economically damaging level. The risk of yield loss from white mold is greater with lodging susceptible varieties.
Soybean has limited crop residue levels after harvest and often cause the soil to be sufficiently mellow so that deep tillage for seedbed preparation is not necessary, except when weed infestation is serious. However, mellowing and low post harvest residues may predispose the soil to additional erosion.
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