Intensive Management: An option to increase Double-Crop Soybean Yields?

Double-crop soybean production following a winter annual is a common production practice in Kentucky. Double-cropping soybean and a winter annual is typically profitable while maintaining a "cover crop" during winter months. To maximize yields, considerable work has been completed to identify intensive management programs for full-season soybean. Given that double-crop soybean are grown in more stressful environmental conditions, identification of intensive management programs can greatly increase double-crop soybean yields. The goal of this project is to identify management practices that will maximize double-crop soybean yields and profitability. This project will supplement a research program funded by United Soybean Board (USB) to investigate the effect of seeding rate, seed treatment, and foliar fungicides on double-crop soybean yields and possibly a project that will be submitted to the Kentucky Small Grain Promotion Council examining the effect of wheat harvest date on vomitoxin accumulation. Earlier wheat harvest could greatly benefit double-crop soybean production by allowing earlier planting, thus increased yields. The objectives of this project are to determine the effect of: 1) wheat harvest date on double-crop soybean yield; and 2) effect of different management programs on double-crop soybean yields.