Understand

ding and Increasin

I ng Soybe
ean Yields
s
Ryan Van Roekel, Ph.D.1 and Larrry Purcell, P
Ph.D.2

Sum
mmary Physsiologically, sooybean is consiidered to be soource limited.
This assumes that a soybean plannt has an inherrent ability to
 AAn understandiing of the maain factors infl
fluencing grain
n consiistently make more yield (ssink) than the environment
yyield in soybean can provid de key insights for making g allowws. This is eviident by the prresence of flowwer abortion,
mmanagement deecisions to incrrease yield. whicch still occurss at 20 to 500% even withh the highest
 SSeed number is determin ned by the amount off yieldding crops. Beccause of this, a soybean crop will adjust its
pphotosynthate produced bettween R1 and R5 that iss yieldd potential to m
match the grow wing conditionns. Thus, seed
allocated to the seeds, divided
d by the minimmum amount off numbber (per acre) ddetermination ccan be simply viewed as the
pphotosynthate needed
n to keep a single seed from
f aborting. crop setting as maany seeds as it can supportt. If the crop
produuces more phootosynthate (soource), it will pproduce more
 SStresses or impprovements in crop growth prior to flow-- yieldd (sink), and thhe amount off photosynthatee produced is
erring should noot have a signiificant impact on final yield,, whatt determines yield potential.
pprovided that >9
95% light interrception is achieved by R1.
Moree specifically, seed number determinatioon is closely
 S
Seed weight is determined by y the seed grow
wth rate and thee relateed to photosynnthate production from R1 (fifirst flower) to
leength of the seed fill period. R5 (bbeginning seed) (Van Roekkel et al., 20155). Whether a
 SSimplified, soybean yield is mainly determined
d byy pod iis set or the fllower is aborteed depends uppon if there is
pphotosynthate production
p from
m R1 to R5 an
nd the length off sufficcient photosynnthate availablee to support thhe demand of
thhe seed fill perriod. the ddeveloping pood and seeds. Good growinng conditions
 MManagement practices
p shou uld focus on n maximizing g durinng this timeeframe result in more pphotosynthate
pphotosynthate production
p durring seed set to
o increase seedd produuction and morre pods will bee set.
nnumber and lim miting stresses during seed filll to extend thee The pphotosynthate demand of a ddeveloping seed is related to
seeed fill duratio
on and increasee seed weight. that seed’s growthh rate. Larger seeds usuallyy have higher
seed growth rates and higher pphotosyntheticc demands to
Intrroduction preveent seed abortiion. However, given equal pphotosynthetic
rates and reproducctive partitioniing, a large seeeded variety
Soyybean yields in
n the United Staates have increeased over timee can sstill produce thhe same amounnt of final graiin weight as a
up tto an average of 48 bu/acre in 2015. Yet, soybean
s yieldss smalller seeded variiety; it will jusst have fewer seeeds per acre.
up to 160 bu/acree have been reeported in yield contests. In n This can be visuallized with Figgure 1: if the big block of
ordeer to make sound manag gement decisions that willl photoosynthate is tthe same sizee but the sm mall block of
conntinue to increease soybean yields, it is crucial
c to firstt photoosynthate needded per seed iss bigger, you ccannot divide
undderstand the factors inv volved with grain yield d the bbig block into as many smaall blocks to support seeds.
deteermination in soybean.
s Simillarly, varietiess with more seeeds per pod ((more 4-bean
pods)) will have higgher photosynnthate requirem ments per pod
Seeed Number Determination
D n and ooften have fewwer pods, but thhe final number of seeds per
acre is usually the ssame.
Yieeld is determineed by the number of seeds peer acre and thee
finaal seed weight.. Of the two, seed
s number hash the greatestt
imppact on final so oybean yield. Seed
S number is a function off
the plants per acrre, pods per pllant, and seedss per pod. Thee
maxximum numberr of seeds per pod, or prevaleence of 4-bean n
podds, is largely deetermined by genetics.
g The number
n of podss
per plant varies drastically
d witth the numberr of plants perr
acree and plant to o plant spacingg. As such, it is difficult to
o Figu
ure 1. Total seeed number is a function of tthe amount of
focuus on just one component off seed number, and it is betterr photoosynthate prodduction from RR1 to R5 that iis allocated to
to thhink of this yieeld componentt as the total nu
umber of seedss reprooductive growwth divided byy the minimum m amount of
or ppods per acre. photoosynthate requuired by a seed..

CR
ROP INSIGH
HTS  VOL. 26  NO. 7 1 DUPONT
T PIONEER A
AGRONOMY SCIENCES
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Trademarks and service marks of DuPont, Pio oneer or their res
spective owners . © 2016 PHII.
®
Pion
neer brand prod
ducts are provide
ed subject to the terms and condittions of purchase
e which are part of the labeling a
and purchase doccuments.
Seeed Weight Deetermination Priorr to flowering,, stresses do nnot have a largge impact on
final yield, provideed that the stresss did not seveerely stunt the
Seeed weight is a function of th he seed growtth rate and thee plantts. It is criticall to close the rows and havve >95% light
lenggth of the seed d fill period (F
Figure 2; Van Roekel et al.,, intercception by thhe beginning of flowering to maximize
2015). As stated before, the seeed growth ratte is related to o photoosynthate prodduction. This will often reequire a row
seedd size. This is genetically coontrolled and generally
g stablee spaciing <30 inchess.
throoughout seed fill.
f Favorable late-season tem mperatures and d
rainnfall can createe larger seed weight
w by exten
nding the seedd
fill duration, which
w does not
n impact seed
s number.
Connversely, a seevere late-seasson drought or o disease likee
suddden death syn ndrome can teerminate the seeed fill period d
premmaturely and reduce seed size.
Earlyy planting and/
d/or warm sprinng temperaturees can induce
earlieer flowering annd extend the flowering periiod. Soybeans
initiaate flowering bbased upon thhe interaction of daylength
and hheat unit accummulation (Lawnn and James, 22011). Shorter
dayleengths hasten development. This can be oobserved with
Figure 2. Final seeed weight is a function of thhe rate of seed
d
reseaarch from soutthern Pennsylvvania in 2015 w where shorter
grow
wth and the du
uration of the seeed fill period.
dayleengths with bboth very earrly and very late planting
reducced the growinng degree units (GDUs) requuired to reach
Graain Yield Deteermination R1 (T Table 1).
Whhen both equatiions for seed number
n and seeed weight aree Parkeer et al. (20166) showed thatt soybean plannted on April
commbined, seed grrowth rates can n be removed to simplify thee 15th would begin flowering on June 4th, whhile May 11th
equuation. Also, thhe proportion ofo photosynthaate allocated too plantted soybean ddid not flowerr until June 330th after the
reprroductive growwth is largely out
o of our conttrol and can bee summmer solstice annd when days bbegin to shorteen (Figure 4).
esseentially ignorred. As such h, the major physiologicall Longger daylengths extend reprodductive developpment. This is
proccesses for deteermining final grain
g yield in soybean
s are thee evideent by the longger R1 to R6 pperiod with eaarlier planting
amoount of photossynthate produ uced from R1 to R5 and thee (Tablle 1; Figure 4). Greater GDU and soolar radiation
lenggth of the seed fill duration (F
Figure 3). accummulation fromm R1 to R6 havve the potentiaal to increase
photoosynthate prodduction and thuus, seed numbeer and yield.

Figure 3. The maain factors affeecting final yieeld in soybean

n
are the amount of o photosynthaate produced from
fr R1 to R55
andd the length of the
t seed fill du
uration.

Management Im
mplications
Whhile yield deterrmination in sooybean can be reduced down n
to thhis simple con
ncept, the facto
ors affecting crrop growth and
d
phootosynthate pro oduction durin ng these long g reproductivee
periiods are extremmely complex. Maximizing yield dependss Figu
ure 4. Daylengtths during the sspring and sum
mmer growing
upoon alleviating all stresses throughout th he entirety off seasoon for Pittsburrg, PA, (40.4° N) with exammple planting,
reprroductive deveelopment. R1, aand R6 dates frrom Parker et aal. (2016).

Tab ble 1. The duraation and GDUU accumulation

n of vegetative and reproducttive growth perriods for soybeean maturities L
Late II to Mid
III ffrom Parker et al. (2016).

Planting Da
ate Days
D to R1 GDUss to R1 Days R
R1 to R6 GDUs R1 to R6
4/15/15 50 768 552 1198
5/4/15 41 805 445 1032
5/9/15 40 821 338 8859
5/11/15 41 861 337 8836
6/11/15 34 851 228 8836
7/7/15 28 759 226 6609

2
Fulll season varrieties can haave longer vegetative
v andd Refeerences
reprroductive perio ods and often have greater yield potentiall
wheen planted early compared to short season varieties.
v In thee Kylee, D. 2014. Efffect of Cobraa® herbicide aapplication on
Midd-South, short season varietiies can be plaanted too early y soyb ean yield in the absence of white moold or weed
andd have later op ptimum plantin ng dates comp pared to fullerr presssure. Agronom my Sciences Research Upddate, DuPont
seasson varieties (P Poston and Jesschke, 2015; Salmerόn
S et al.,, Pioneeer, Johnston, IA.
2016). Further no orth, short season varieties can
c be planted d Lawnn, R.J. and A.T. Jamess. 2011. Appplication of
lateer with less associated yield loss (Nafziger ( andd physiiological undeerstanding in soybean impprovement. I.
Vosssenkemper, 20 015). In both scenarios, plantting full seasonn Undeerstanding pheenological connstraints to addaptation and
variieties first will maximize yielld potential. yieldd potential. Croop and Pasture Sci. 62:1-11.
Afteer planting, grrowing conditiions throughou
ut reproductivee Nafzziger, E. and J. Vossenkempper. 2015. Soybbean planting
devvelopment will have the greaatest influence on final yield. date and varietal maturity intteract to deteermine yield.
Botth too much and not enough water can have a largee Agroonomy Sciencces Research Update, DuP Pont Pioneer,
imppact on photosy ynthesis and crop growth. Feertility and pH
H John ston, IA.
musst also allow for
f optimal cro op growth ratees. This shouldd
be managed acccording to so oil and plantt analyses in n Parkeer, A, K. Fry and K. Reese.. 2016. Plantinng date effect
conj
njunction with h the yield goal and caalculated crop p on ssoybean reprooductive duraation. Agronom my Sciences
demmands. Reseearch Update, D
DuPont Pioneeer, Johnston, IA
A.
Whhile weed con ntrol is imporrtant, herbicid de applicationss Postoon, D. and MM. Jeschke. 22015. Optimizzing soybean
duriing reproductiive growth sho ould be avoid ded due to thee matuurity group byy planting datte interactionss in northern
poteential for reduced photosyn nthate producttion and seed d Kenttucky. Field F
Facts Vol. 15, No. 1. DuP Pont Pioneer,
nummber. This is especially
e true if the herbicidde causes plantt John ston, IA.
injuury (Kyle, 20114). In-season management of insects and d Salm
merόn, M., E.E.. Gbur, F.M. B Bourland, N.W.. Buehring, L.
diseeases are also crucial
c to limitt their impact on
o crop growth h Earn est, F.B. Fritscchi, B.R. Goldden, D. Hathcooat, J. Lofton,
andd yield. T.D. Miller, C. N Neely, G. Shannnon, T.K. Uddeigwe, D.A.
Verbbree, E.D. Voriies, W.J. Wiebold, and L.C. P Purcell. 2016.
Yieldd response to planting datee among soybbean maturity
groupps for irrigateed production in the US Miidsouth. Crop
Sci. 556:747-759.
Van Roekel, R.J.,, L.C. Purcelll and M. Salm merόn. 2015.
Physsiological andd managemennt factors conntributing to
soyb ean potential yyield. Field Croops Res. 182:86-97.
1
Fieldd Agronomist, DuP
Pont Pioneer
All of the aforemmentioned pracctices and any others should
d 2
focuus on achieving optimal grrowing condittions from R1 1 Profe
fessor, University oof Arkansas
throough R7 to maximize
m photoosynthate prodduction during
g
The forregoing is provided ffor informational usee only. Please contactt your Pioneer sales
seedd set and to lengthen the seed fill periood in order to
o professsional for informatiion and suggestionss specific to your operation. Product
maxximize yield. performmance is variable andd depends on many ffactors such as moistture and heat stress,
soil typpe, management pracctices and environm mental stress as well as disease and pest
pressurres. Individual resultss may vary.
Connclusions
This physiologicaal framework for f grain yield determination n
in ssoybean providdes a guide forr understandin ng the effect off
mannagement practtices and grow wing conditionss on final yield.
Streesses or gains in
i crop growth h prior to R1 arre not likely to
o
havve a large imp pact on final yield
y as long as
a full canopy y
clossure occurs by flowerring. Factorss influencing g
phootosynthate prooduction during the period fromf R1 to R5 5
willl have a signiificant impactt on final seed d number and d
yielld. The followiing seed fill period from R6 to
t R7 will havee
a m
major impact on o seed weigh ht, which will also influencee
yielld. This underrstanding of how h yield is determined in n
soyb
ybean is the crucial
c first sttep in making g managementt
decisions for sustaainable yield inncreases over time.