Lessons learned from the North Carolina soybean yield contest

Yield contest datasets are a tool that can be used to inform production practices that are strong predictors of high yield. Subsequently, these datasets can be used to identify areas of focus for future agricultural research.

A new Agronomy Journal study explored a dataset of 877 entries into the North Carolina Soybean Yield Contest from 2002–2019 to identify the production practices that were the strongest predictors of high soybean yield.

The team found that the three strongest predictors of high soybean yield were maturity group, foliar fungicide use, and planting date. Using a Maturity Group 4 (or earlier) soybean variety was the strongest predictor of high soybean yield. Regardless of soybean maturity group, the next strongest predictor of high soybean yield was foliar fungicide use. When an earlier maturing soybean variety was used, there were also yield benefits associated with planting before mid-May.

Soybean producers can implement several of these production practices as a mechanism to increase soybean yield and profitability in the southeastern USA.