FORSYTH, Ill. — A combination of good timing for planting and excellent soil conditions helped central Illinois farmer Jim Cullison’s crop of beans this year, despite a season-ending deluge that dropped about 10 inches of rain in the region over three weeks.
"This year, in particular for this area, if your soil conditions were marginal and with the amount of rain we had, there was a good chance of disease popping up later on as it did in several other places nearby," said Eric Beyers, a site manager for the Farmer’s Independent Research of Seed Technologies (FIRST) program.
"His soil conditions at the start, and overall through the growing season, played an integral part in the numbers he produced," he continued.
Seeded a bit later than usual, on May 23, Cullison got into the ground when it was fairly drier than usual. "He worked the ground well to make sure it was drier before he started planting," Beyers pointed out.
Harvested on Oct. 21, Cullison’s average yield was more than 63 bushels per acre. "He really did have excellent-yielding beans this year, better than most in the region," Beyers said.
Cullison tills his non-irrigated land in the fall, and the silty clay loam soil had moderately high levels of P, K and a pH level of 6.6. He alternates beans and corn each year.
The top performer in this trial was LG Seeds’ variety C3989R2, at 70 bushels per acre with a gross income of $675 per acre (see table below).
Pfister’s variety 43R29 came in at 67.6 bushels per acre on a return of $652, and NK Brand’s S39-U2 also finished at 67.6 bushels with an income of $652 an acre.
Beyers noted returns were good no matter the maturity of the types, which ranged from 3.3-4.3. "His soil type helped a lot, plus the excess rain just rolls right off," he said. "The land drains exceptionally well."
