United Soybean Board

Project Details:

Title:
Validation of Soil Test Potassium Recommendations and Plant Tissue Analysis to Optimize Soybean Yield

Parent Project: This is the first year of this project.
Checkoff Organization:South Carolina Soybean Board
Categories:Soil fertility, Agronomy, Seed composition
Organization Project Code:
Project Year:2021
Lead Principal Investigator:Bhupinder Farmaha (Clemson University)
Co-Principal Investigators:
Keywords:

Contributing Organizations

Funding Institutions

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Information and Results

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Project Summary

Soybean yields have increased substantially in recent decades due to better management of improved varieties. The question being asked is, “Are Clemson’s current potassium (K) fertilizer recommendations good enough to sustain high soybean yields?” In phase one, we have conducted in-depth work at Edisto REC on evaluating K recommendations and plant analysis to optimize yield. In the second phase, we want to expand this work to on-farm trials and verify if results obtained at on-station trials are aligned with the results of on-farm trials. This will help us to create more robust datasets testing K fertility recommendations across production environments. The proposed research will generate new information that will make Soybean production in South Carolina more productive and profitable.

Project Objectives

1. Evaluate the response of soybean yield across four application rates (0, 50, 100, and 150 pounds K2O per acre).
2. Determine K removal values for soybean.
3. Correlate the trifoliate leaf K concentration with soil test levels.

Project Deliverables

Outputs will be a better understanding of soybean potassium management and improve soybean profitability. The results from this study will be presented to extension agents and producers in field days and winter meetings. We are planning to do this trial for two years. At the end of the second year, results will be compiled into an extension article made available for stakeholders along with a short (< 5 minutes) YouTube video.

Progress of Work

Updated April 14, 2021:

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Updated July 15, 2021:

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Updated October 15, 2021:

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Updated December 16, 2021:

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Final Project Results

Updated January 19, 2022:

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Benefit to Soybean Farmers

Outputs will be a better understanding of soybean potassium management and improve soybean profitability.

Performance Metrics

The ability of the potassium fertilizer applications to enhance growth and soybean yield will be quantified and analyzed at the end of the field trial. Economic cost/return sheets can be developed to determine how profitable the treatments are. Surveys at Soybean meeting in 2021 and 2022 will determine how many growers have adopted this strategy.

Project Years