Double Down on Profits; Rotating Crops Could Pay Multiple Dividends

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Published on September 7 2017 3:32 pm
Last Updated on September 7 2017 3:37 pm

BY MIKE ORSO

To Gary Berg, double-cropping soybeans into wheat has made sense for several years.

“When we have a good wheat crop, and a good double-crop soybean crop, that’s our highest income,” said the St. Elmo farmer. “It even beats corn and it beats straight soybeans.”

Berg just finished his tenure on the Illinois Soybean Association (ISA) and now represents the state as one of its four representatives on the national soybean checkoff board. Research funded by state checkoff dollars (half stay in the state, half go to national efforts) shows that more farmers in central and northern Illinois might also want to consider the wheat-soybean rotation system.

ISA and Illinois Wheat Association had its double-crop research plot at the recent Farm Progress Show in Decatur.
ISA and Illinois Wheat Association had its double-crop research plot at the recent Farm Progress Show in Decatur

Not only does it have the potential to generate more revenue, it also can reduce nutrient runoff, and suppress a nasty soybean pest.

“Wheat acts as a cash cover crop,” said Dan Davidson, technical consultant for ISA. “Wheat residue we now understand … as it decays, greatly suppresses soybean cyst nematode populations.”

Berg, who farms in Fayette County, believes farmers who, for example, plant cereal rye as a cover crop should consider wheat.

“To me, wheat is a good cover crop, you can get some income, you can plant your soybeans behind the wheat, so it’s a perfect fit.”

A plot at last week’s Farm Progress Show in Decatur showed the key for improving second-crop yield is planting earlier, which requires harvesting wheat sooner.

Davidson said some wheat varieties mature 3 to 7 days sooner yet produce the same yield as conventional varieties. Planting soybeans earlier in the wheat-soybean system also increases yield potential by as much as one bushel per acre per day.

ISA collaborated on the research with Illinois Wheat Association, National Wheat Foundation, AgriMAXX, Beck’s, GROWMARK, LCS and Syngenta. More information can be found at ilsoyadvisor.com.