THREE YEARS OF GROWING SOYBEANS
IN CENTRAL ALBERTA
FROM THE FIELD
This was my third year of growing
soybeans in central Alberta. The
previous two years were lessons in
contrast. Year 1 (2015), we had very
li le rain and I was also working
through the ins and outs of a new
crop for me and averaged about 19
Bu/Acre. Year 2 (2016), we had an
abundance of moisture and some late
rains as many of you were aware and
this translated into a 35 Bu/Acre crop.
In year 3 (2017), once again moisture
or lack thereof was a huge factor. I
realize many areas were far worse
off than mine but this did lower the
soybean yield. Even with the lower
moisture, my average yield was
23 Bu/Acre. I a ribute this to the
fact that I'm ge ng a be er handle
on weed control as well as finding
varie es that are more suited for the
lower heat units available in my area
(usually 2275-2300). I use the Current
and Historical Alberta Weather Sta on
Data Viewer for CHU's at h ps://
agriculture.alberta.ca/acis/alberta-
weather-data-viewer.jsp. Many new
varie es are coming from mul ple
companies that are boas ng early
maturity. Some are in the 2250-2300
CHU range and showing pre y good
yield promise. Many seed companies
are working hard to find suitable
varie es as they see the poten al
for expansion of acres.
John Kowalchuk, Director-at-Large (Non-Bean)
Con nued on Page 14
In 2017, there was 157 mm of rain and 1751 chu by Aug. 21. Most at R6 stage.
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