While “pushing the limits” of early planting dates, Iowa crop consultant and farmer David Savage proved 25 years ago that no-tilling soybeans extremely early might just be crazy enough to work. Like maybe the day before Thanksgiving or Christmas?

Back in the mid 1990s, Savage tried almost every possible scenario when it came to early planting dates. While he was the butt of many farmer jokes, there was a method to his madness — all thanks to his persistence of pushing the no-till envelope just a little further.

Now there’s 3 years of research from Beck’s that confirms that Savage was on to something back in 1996.

Are Fall-Planted Soybeans Almost Here?

In a recent Indiana Prairie Farmer article, editor Allison Lund wrote that today’s innovative farmers might want to think in the future about pulling their planter out and no-tilling soybeans in the ground soon after combining corn in the fall. Rather than seeding cover crops in the fall, they might no-till soybeans instead.

She explained how 3 years of Beck’s studies indicate the idea of fall-planted soybeans might not be as far-fetched as you might think.

There’s been a lot of data through the years that an early planting date with soybeans is the way to move, says Andrew Cottrell, the practical farm research lead at Beck’s operation in Atlanta, Ind.. Maybe in the future planting soybeans in the fall in the Corn Belt.

Last year, his fall-planted soybeans in Indiana trailed closely behind the spring-planted beans, yielding 52 bushels and 60 bushels per acre, respectively. Comparing spring- and fall-planted soybeans side-by-side, the fall-planted soybeans were clearly smaller.

“At first glance, I thought this is kind of a failure,” he says. “But when I pulled some plants, I saw some things that were promising.” The spring-planted soybeans put on an average of 25 nodes per plant, while the fall-planted soybeans had about 17 nodes per plant.

Seed Coatings Will Be Essential

“There’s a lot of promise here,” says Cottrell. “We’re going to keep looking at it and trying to refine the system.” The system includes applying a coating to soybean seed to prevent them from germinating prior to spring. The larger the amount of coating, the more heat is required to break it down and allow the seeds to germinate.

However, a problem for many Corn Belt no-tillers is that mild winters could trigger soybeans to germinate too early, causing them to die before temperatures stay steady in the spring. This makes fall-planted soybeans more suitable for colder states, such as Nebraska, where seeds will stay dormant all winter.

Looking Back to the 1990s

In a 1999 No-Till Farmer article, “No-Tilling Soybeans In November?” Savage explained his thoughts on the potential for extremely early no-tilling of soybeans.

“The philosophy I took with early planting dates with no-till is we have this cold soil curse that seems to dog us with corn yields,” says the previous National No-Tillage Conference speaker.

“I came to the conclusion that if I could back my corn planting date off until it warms up a little bit more and get into that first week of May, we might be able to get picture-perfect, picket-fence stands of corn.”

However, Savage was more interested in working with the planting dates of soybeans. His premise for early planting was based on the idea that if soybeans could be no-tilled into cold ground, the soil would act like a cold storage unit that preserved the seed until the soil warmed up enough for germination and growth. At least theoretically.

October, November or December No-Tilling?

Savage began what turned out to be a 3-year experiment with no-till soybean planting dates. In 1996 trials, he was surprised to see his earliest soybeans planted on April 18 out-yielded soybeans planted on April 27, May 22 and June 16. It surprised him because the weather was exceptionally disagreeable that year.

“I thought I would be early with April 18,” he says. “I put them in and got scared to death because it not only rained, but also snowed. I thought those beans were dead. They turned out 54 bushels an acre.”

The second year, Savage pushed the planting date back to April 3. Again, he was nervous.

“The ground froze pretty good after that date,” he says. “People were spreading manure to warm up the soil. I kept digging up seeds and putting them in the kitchen window — and sure enough, they were germinating.”

Since the soybean seeds had swollen, he feared they might not germinate. But he harvested 66 bushels per acre, even after the swollen seeds sat in frozen soil for 7 days.

The third year was the one that earned Savage a “nutty” reputation. It was the year he planted soybeans early — on November 22.

Savage also planted soybeans a week before Christmas as well. Other planting dates included March 7 and May 14 that year.

“The November beans stayed viable until the middle of April,” he says, “but the earthworms did the harvesting for us.

“The Christmas beans got a hard freeze right after planting, so they were in cold storage until spring. They were our only factory-treated seed. We got 66.7 bushels per acre.

But the yield difference between the March planting and the May planting really made the neighbors talk.

“We didn’t use any special seed or coating with the March date and we still got a 3-bushel advantage over the May planting with 65.8 bushels an acre,” says Savage. “It was hard to believe.”

Looking to the Past, and the Future

Cottrell says experimenting with seed coating amounts and planting dates will help provide answers on how, when and where this technology can work. Perhaps, he says, the answer is planting later into the winter months or very early in the spring.

With more research, Cottrell hopes his technology can combat challenges that come with spring planting, such as rain and cold temperatures. However, he recognizes that it will not be a solution for everyone.

“Maybe there’s a place for it here and there,” Cottrell says. “Maybe it’s not the answer for you, but we’re trying to look at it and see what we can learn. But maybe for the right guy in the right year it works.”

So 25 years ago, perhaps Savage wasn’t so crazy. He’s made valiant efforts for no-tillers everywhere to take advantage of “the cold soil curse,” but with a word of caution.

“I picked the first part of April because that’s when I thought we would get maximum results with the least amount of risk,” he said back in 1999. “If you want to go earlier than that, consider yourself a researcher and failure at that point is a good learning experience.”