Seed cost is a critical economic factor, and selecting the proper seeding rate is a key management practice. This article reviews key factors in determining optimal soybean seeding rates.

Golden Harvest corn farmers now have access to the Seeding Rate Selector, a free digital tool that helps estimate the most economical seeding rate for individual hybrids and yield environments.

It’s not so difficult to do seeding rate trials with today’s planting equipment and yield monitors, and it’s even possible to do several of these within a field in order to get an idea of how much responses vary within the field. The difficulty is that responses within parts of a field are not consistent across years: they are often more dependent on weather conditions than on soil zone or soil type.

No-till offers the best option for planting on time this year. Field seedbed preparation should be limited to leveling ruts that may have been left by the previous year’s harvest.

Michigan State University Extension found that the lowest planting rates in a 2015-16 study were the most profitable.

Penn State Extension recommends growers review whether the 2-bushels-per-acre seeding rate is the appropriate rate for seeding their cereal rye cover crop, based on their goals.

Take some time after wheat emergence this fall under different conditions to make some estimates of emergence to use as feedback for future seeding rates, says Penn State Extension.