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Arkansas Soybean Promotion Board


Soybeans Today January 1998

Aerial Seeding May Have Some Potential On Clay

By Rich Maples

Here’s the situation. You want to plant an early maturing variety in April so you can get your plants up and going before drought can take its toll. The problem is, you’re busy plant-ing rice and it’s been raining too much to get conventional equipment in your clay field.

Aerial seeding could be the solution, according to Dr. Lanny Ashlock, soybean agronomist for the Cooperative Extension Service, U of A Division of Agriculture.

Ashlock says, "Because of all the clay soils and frequent spring rains in Arkansas, it’s often been difficult for farmers to implement the Early Soybean Production System, which couples a very early maturing variety, an indeterminate Group IV, with a very early planting date, in April.

"In Mississippi and Louisiana, they use the early production system more because they don’t have as much rice to deal with. They don’t irrigate as much as we do, so they plant their soybeans early to try to avoid drought."

To help Arkansas farmers overcome the problems that can occur in April, Ashlock has begun a study of aerial seeding on clay. The project is funded by the Arkansas Soybean Promotion Board and is being conducted at the University of Arkansas’ Southeast Branch Station at Rohwer.

Why clay? Ashlock says soils such as Sharkey and Perry clay hold moisture longer and become so "plastic" when wet that the seeds embed themselves on impact.

Ashlock said the station superintendent, Larry Earnest, prepared a field for aerial seeding during the fall of 1996. "He had the ground floated so it was nice and smooth, and he constructed levees to catch and hold rainfall. The flood helped control winter weeds and guaranteed that we would have a saturated field when it came time to fly on the seed.

"The only negative thing was that we had ducks congregating in parts of the flooded field. Their paddling roughed up the soil a little, but it wasn’t a major problem."

On April 9, the field was drained, and 24 hours later the seed was flown on. To prevent plant disease, the seed was treated with a mixture of Apron, Vitavax 200 and sodium molybdate.

Half of the 40-acre field was seeded at a rate of 60 pounds per acre, and the other half was seeded at 90 pounds an acre.

"We were shooting for 120,000 to 130,000 plants per acre," said Ashlock. "We applied the 90-pound rate because we weren’t sure how much seed it would take. It didn’t seem to matter which rate we used.

"Where the field was primarily clay, we got beautiful stands. The seed buried itself in the clay, leaving only about a fourth of the seed showing.

"Where there was a mixture of clay and silt loam, the seed didn’t embed itself as deeply and we weren’t as successful getting a stand. The silt loam was also in the higher part of the field and it dried out quicker."

Ashlock noted that the plot field was not precision leveled. "There were low areas where we had 2 inches of standing water. The water absorbed the impact of the seed. Instead of being embedded in the clay, the seed sunk down and sat on the clay.

"One of the problems farmers may have with this system is getting all the water off the field and still leaving the soil wet. A little standing water in low areas won’t hurt, but you can’t have over an inch."

Ashlock said Arkansas farmers who have aerial seeded in the past have usually done so as a last resort. "Generally, it’s been raining a lot in June, it’s approaching July and the farmers still have a lot of acreage to plant. As soon as it clears up, they have to have the seed flown on.

"That time of the year, it’s so hot and the days are so long that by the time plants sprout, if they don’t get a timely rain, they die. A farmer might be successful one year out of three.

"If you can fly on the seed in early April, when it’s cool and the days are relatively short, there’s a good chance of getting some rain every week.

"You can greatly increase your chances of getting a good stand of soybeans on clay soils."

The 1997 project field was not irrigated. It averaged about 25 bushels per acre. Beginning in 1998, the aerial seeding study will include both irrigated and dryland fields.

Clay soils hold moisture and become so "plastic" when wet that seeds embed themselves on impact.

Soybeans Today January 1998
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