Kansas soybean yield-contest placers average 77 bushels

While a cold, stormy fall delayed harvest, further complicating late plantings and lagging crop development, the best agronomic practices and wisely selected varieties still contributed to Kansas farmers’ producing high-yielding, valuable soybeans in 2019.

LarMar Inc., Robinson, led the dryland division with a no-till entry of 94.01 bushels per acre. Love & Love Farms, Montezuma, topped the statewide irrigated division with a no-till entry that made 88.82 bushels per acre. Longenecker Farm, Abilene, won the value contest with 66.4 cents per bushel of increased value (7.2% over the cash price). This year, for the first time, the highest protein content also earned special recognition, and that went to Chris Bodenhausen, Muscotah, whose entry was 37.3% protein.

The yield contest included 25 entries, down four from 2018. The 22 winners in 11 categories had verified yields averaging 77.20 bushels per acre, compared to the reported state average of 44 bushels per acre in 2019. The contest winners’ average decreased by 4.67 bushels per acre, while the state average increased 1 bushel per acre from 2018.

The value contest had 18 entries, three fewer than in the previous year. For their combined protein and oil contents, the top three entries averaged 62.1 cents (6.7%) in increased value over the $9.24 base cash price. In 2018, that average was 99.3 cents (11.5%) above an $8.60 cash price.