High Yield of Soybeans Study

The research project was designed to study soybean plant and yield responses to certain products. Soybean producers generally look to maximize profit, and with increased soybean prices, financial returns have been obtained from even smaller yield responses. The project began in 2011 as a two-year study designed to look at the effects of both seed and foliar treatments applied to soybeans.

Use of Ultrasound Backfat Estimates to Form Marketing Groups Prior to Finishing for Feedlot Steers

An experiment was conducted using 95 Continental crossbred steers. The cattle were sorted by ultrasound 160 days before slaughter into a low backfat group (Low BF) and a higher backfat group (High BF). Half of the Low BF and half of the High BF were implanted whereas the other halves were not. Data from the experiment were used in two hypothetical markets. One market was a high yield beef program (HY) that did not allow the use of implants. The second market was a commodity beef program (CM) that allowed the use of implants. The cattle were priced as an unsorted group (ALL) and two sorted groups (Low BF and High BF) within the HY (non-implanted) and CM (implanted) markets. The CM program had a base price of $1.05/lb hot carcass weight (HCW) with a $0.15/lb HCW discount for quality grade (QG) Select and a $0.20/lb HCW discount for yield grade (YG) 4. The HY program used a base price of $1.07/lb HCW with premiums ($/lb HCW) paid for YG £ .9 (.15), 1.0 - 1.4 (.10), and 1.5 - 1.9 (.03). The carcasses were discounted ($/lb HCW) for YG 2.5 - 2.9 (.03), 3.0 - 3.9 (.15), and ³ 4.0 (.35). This data set provides good evidence that the end point at which to sell a group of cattle depends on the particular market. Sorting had an economic advantage over ALL in the HY Low BF and the CM High BF groups. The HY High BF cattle should have been sold sooner due to the discounts recieved for increased YG. The increased YG was directly affected by an increase in BF. Furthermore, the CM Low BF group should have been fed longer to increase the number of carcasses grading Choice.

Soybean Yield Response to Rhizobium Inoculation on Converted Grass Pasture

Much of the soybean plant's nitrogen requirement is supplied through nitrogen fixation when atmospheric nitrogen is converted into a usable form for the plant. Nitrogen fixation is critical for producing higher yield in soybean. For nitrogen fixation to occur, nitrogen-fixing bacteria (genus Rhizobium) need to be present in the soil. If soils do not already contain a high population of Rhizobium, these bacteria can be added either as a liquid or granular peat inoculant, or as a peat-based powder. The different forms can be seed applied or used in-furrow.

High Tunnel Production: Inputs, Labor, and Crop Productivity

The 30 × 12 × 96 ft (W × H × L, 2,880 ft 2 ) high tunnel was planted and maintained as part of a high tunnel production budget project funded by a Specialty Crop Grant through the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship. Six growers throughout the state participated in the project with the objectives of creating an enterprise budgeting tool that estimates the costs and revenues associated with producing specific crops in a high tunnel, either as a single crop or multi-crop system. The budgeting tool will estimate the production cost and net profit per square foot in a high tunnel from mono-culture (one crop per tunnel) or multi-cropping, successionplanted systems. This report summarizes the findings from the high tunnel at the ISU Horticulture Research Station. The plantings in this high tunnel were used to collect labor and yield data as well as demonstrate a continuous, multi-cropping production system. A publication containing the enterprise budgeting tool, using this data and data collected from the other six farms, will be available through Iowa State University Extension and Outreach in the fall of 2012.