Due to an expected jump in Mid-South soybean acreage this year, inoculants and their role in the crop’s production are currently of special interest.
“Everyone is looking for an extra edge in increasing yields,” said Jeremy Ross,
Due to an expected jump in Mid-South soybean acreage this year, inoculants and their role in the crop’s production are currently of special interest.
“Everyone is looking for an extra edge in increasing yields,” said Jeremy Ross, Arkansas Extension soybean specialist, at the recent Tri-State Soybean Forum in Oak Grove, La. “In the right circumstances, inoculants provide that edge.”
Why should growers use inoculants?
“Soybean is a legume and capable of fixing nitrogen through a relationship with the soybean bacteria, Bradyrhizobium japonicum. There are different strains of the bacteria showing different characteristics: some are hardier than others, some fit certain environments better.”
The bacteria set up on the soybean roots and then get to work forming nodules and nitrogen. That nitrogen is then available to the plant and helps growers avoid costly fertilizer applications.
For a 50-bushel-per-acre soybean crop, around 225 pounds of nitrogen is required. Without nodulation, “that means a nitrogen application later in the season. In 2008, with the urea price through the 