This is the second year this study has been conducted at Topeka and Scandia and first year in Parsons. For Topeka and Scandia, the first years’ data (2021) was reported to the commission and in Kansas Field Research 2022, which had similar results as this year's. While caution should be used in making conclusions from this limited data set, it was shown that there can be a very positive yield response to planting soybeans in late March/early April for certain variety/seeding rate combinations. For most variety/seeding rate treatments, there was no major yield loss due to early planting. The last planting date in these studies is often before most producers historically start planting soybeans in the respective locations. Previous work reported in the Kansas Field Research publications had planting dates from early May to late June at Topeka, showing a yield increase with the earlier planting dates if steps were taken to reduce SDS. Further research is needed to determine if these trends for yield response are consistent. An additional question could be identifying varieties that respond with increased yield due to the early planting date more consistently than other varieties.
The soybean trial was carried out at the Southeast Research and Extension Center in Parsons, KS during the 2022 growing season. Our objective was to determine the effect of planting dates, seed density, and maturity groups on grain yield. With a total rainfall of 18.84 in during the soybean growing season (55% lower than the 10-yr average), the growing conditions were very limited resulting in an average yield of 1.7 bu/acre.

Identify best early planting dates for soybean in North East, North Central, and South East parts of Kansas and study the impact on soybean yields under varying environmental conditions.

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Several research findings in neighboring Midwestern states have indicated that producers can profit from planting soybeans earlier. In Kansas planting dates are also dependent on factors like soil moisture and soil temperature which will be studied as a follow up after obtaining preliminary results from this study. Given the research findings from other neighboring states and understanding that dryland soybean yields are greatly influenced by weather patterns, it becomes imperative to explore earlier planting dates for better yield and profitability of Soybeans in different parts of Kansas which can benefit our soybean producers.