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First, its important to provide room to store free offseason precipitation.
In most years even the drier Nebraska Panhandle sees enough precipitation to fill the soil water profile.
Diana G.
Helsel and Zane R.
Helsel Department of Agronomy
The PDF version of this publication includes illustrations.
Missouri's growing season is characterized by excessive moisture in the spring followed by inadequate moisture during the middle of the growing season.
Because of the lack of moisture during the crops' peak demand, some producers have invested in irrigation systems.
The cost of maintaining and using these systems is high, SO it is imperative to manage moisture in the most efficient way possible.
The following discussion should help Missouri soybean producers understand the crop's need, the soil's ability to hold and supply water, and the agronomic practices that can result in maximum economic yields under irrigation.
Soybean response to irrigation
Irrigation usually improves soybean yields on drought-prone soils and in exceptionally dry seasons.
The amount of increased yield fluctuates, depending on variety, geographic location, soil type and fertility.
An eight-year study of irrigated VS.
nonirrigated soybean yields in southeast Missouri indicates yield increases are greater for short-season varieties under irrigation.
Full-season varieties show almost no yield response, and medium-season varieties show an intermediate response to irrigation.
Responses of soybeans to irrigation in southeast Missouri, 1967-1974
Maturity Average of three sites
Early 27.1 bushels per acre 33.8 bushels per acre 6.7 bushels per acre
Medium 32.0 bushels per acre 35.7 bushels per acre 3.7 bushels per acre
Late 32.9 bushels per acre 33.7 bushels per acre 0.8 bushels per acre
Adapted from Shannon and Duclos.
In central Missouri, a survey indicates that over a 10-year period, soybean growers obtained an average increase of 13 from irrigating full-season soybeans.
In research sponsored by the grower check-off program, yields of 10 varieties grown in southwest Missouri during the dry years of 1983 and 1984 averaged 29 and 13 bushels more per acre respectively under irrigation.
In 1985, when plentiful rains occurred during the seed-fill period, yields increased by only about 1 bushel per acre.
The economics of achieving these yield increases are of paramount importance.
The type of irrigation system and the water source greatly affect cost.
Flood or furrow irrigation with a cheap water source may cost as little as $25 per acre per year, while a center pivot system with a deep well could cost as much as $100.
Prospective irrigators should weigh potential costs against returns they can expect from the increased yields and reduced risks created by irrigation.
In addition to influencing yields, irrigation may alter other characteristics of importance to soybean growers, such as maturity and lodging.
Irrigation delays the maturity of shortor midseason varieties only a few days.
Full-season varieties usually show no difference in maturity unless extended drought or charcoal rot infection occurs.
Plant height normally increases under irrigation, which increases the chance of lodging.
However, proper variety selection may reduce this problem.
Weather patterns and crop water use
Missouri rainfall patterns are characterized by sufficient winter and early spring rainfall that maintains the soil at or near saturation capacity until almost the first of June.
During late June, July and August, the crop's need for moisture usually exceeds that available from either the soil or rainfall.
Water requirements are a function of the plant's metabolic needs, the quantity needed for transpiration , and the quantity lost by evaporation from the soil.
This combined demand is called "evapotranspiration."
The peak water use period for soybeans occurs during reproductive growth, when they may need as much as 2.5 inches of water per week.
The average rainfall during this period is less than 0.6 inches per week.
Available soil moisture is depleted by the time reproductive growth begins, so unless you provide supplemental irrigation, the plant will be subjected to moisture stress.
Short-season varieties complete flowering and pod filling during the period of greatest evapotranspiration.
This results in decreased yields if you don't irrigate.
Full-season varieties normally reach their critical growth period after the period of the highest evapotranspiration passes.
Soybeans are most sensitive to moisture deficits during the late pod development/early bean filling periods.
Figure 1 depicts the yield response of northern soybeans relative to the time at which moisture stress develops.
Lack of water during flowering and podding causes flower and pod abortion.
Stress during pod development and early seed fill reduces the number of seeds per pod.
Drought conditions
during seed fill reduce seed size and thus final yield.
The critical period of water need for indeterminate varieties occurs from late flowering through mid pod fill.
For determinate varieties, such as those grown in the Bootheel, the period of greatest water need begins earlier in flowering.
The new determinate semidwarf varieties often show critical water needs through most stages of growth.
The effect of a moisture stress on soybean yield at various growth stages.
From Shaw and Laing, 1966.
lowa State University
Availability of soil moisture
Specific soil types have varying abilities to hold moisture.
The available soil moisture, in terms of inches of water held per foot depth of a soil, is described in Table 2.
Sandy soils retain the least amount of water, while silt loam and clay loam soils hold the most.
Note that clay soils have less available water than do clay loam soils.
Clay soils hold more water, but less of that water is available for plant growth because water adheres strongly to the clay particles.
Table 2 Potential available water storage capacity for various soil types
Soil type Available soil moisture per foot of depth
Loamy sands 1.0 inch
Sandy loam, clay loam 1.5 inches
Loams, silty clay loam 1.8 inches
Silt loams 2.5 inches
Adapted from Kiniry, Scrivner, and Keener, 1983.
You must also consider the rooting depth of the crop in a particular soil.
The effective rooting depth of soybeans ranges from a few inches after emergence to 2 to 3 feet during the early reproductive stages.
However, some Missouri soils are compacted and some acid sublayers restrict the effective rooting depth to that depth of topsoil above the compacted layer.
In these soils, it is wasteful to supply more water than is necessary to wet the upper zone.
You can measure or estimate soil moisture by a variety of methods.
Each has its advantages and limitations.
Irrigators who use soil moisture measurements for scheduling purposes usually establish an allowable soil moisture depletion level.
For soybeans, the limit is about 70 percent depletion in the vegetative stages and 50 percent for reproductive stages.
You should irrigate if you reach these levels.
To maintain the soil moisture content above the allowable depletion level, you should start irrigating sooner on sandy soil, which has a lower moisture storage capacity.
One of the quickest and most popular methods of determining soil moisture is based on feel and appearance of the soil.
Charts to aid inexperienced irrigators are available.
The method is not quantitative and requires individual judgment.
Thus, it lacks the precision of other methods.
Electrical resistance instruments, commonly called moisture blocks, measure the moisture content of the soil indirectly.
They sense a change in electrical properties of the blocks which correlates with block moisture content and, in turn, the soil moisture.
These devices consist of two electrodes mounted in blocks made of plaster-of-paris, fiberglass, gypsum or other materials.
Wires from the electrodes attach to a meter that measures electrical conductivity, a function of the water content of the soil.
To install moisture blocks, dig a hole with a soil auger and place the block in it.
Pack soil around the block to ensure good capillary action between the sensor and the soil.
Calibrate blocks in each field to ensure accurate prediction.
Moisture blocks are not recommended for sandy soils.
Tensiometers are well adapted to sandier soils.
Tensiometers measure the soil moisture tension how tightly the soil particles hold the water.
This is directly related to the tension required for plant roots to extract water from the soil.
Tensiometers consist of a tube with a porous ceramic cup at one end and a gauge at the other.
To install, place in the soil to the depth of plant rooting.
Fill with water.
The water will move from the cup into the soil until the water content reaches equilibrium.
As the soil dries, the tension increases, indicating water is more difficult to extract from the soil.

First, its important to provide room to store free offseason precipitation.

In most years even the drier Nebraska Panhandle sees enough precipitation to fill the soil water profile.

Diana G.

Helsel and Zane R.

Helsel Department of Agronomy

The PDF version of this publication includes illustrations.

Missouri's growing season is characterized by excessive moisture in the spring followed by inadequate moisture during the middle of the growing season.

Because of the lack of moisture during the crops' peak demand, some producers have invested in irrigation systems.

The cost of maintaining and using these systems is high, SO it is imperative to manage moisture in the most efficient way possible.

The following discussion should help Missouri soybean producers understand the crop's need, the soil's ability to hold and supply water, and the agronomic practices that can result in maximum economic yields under irrigation.

Soybean response to irrigation

Irrigation usually improves soybean yields on drought-prone soils and in exceptionally dry seasons.

The amount of increased yield fluctuates, depending on variety, geographic location, soil type and fertility.

An eight-year study of irrigated VS.

nonirrigated soybean yields in southeast Missouri indicates yield increases are greater for short-season varieties under irrigation.

Full-season varieties show almost no yield response, and medium-season varieties show an intermediate response to irrigation.

Responses of soybeans to irrigation in southeast Missouri, 1967-1974

Maturity Average of three sites

Early 27.1 bushels per acre 33.8 bushels per acre 6.7 bushels per acre

Medium 32.0 bushels per acre 35.7 bushels per acre 3.7 bushels per acre

Late 32.9 bushels per acre 33.7 bushels per acre 0.8 bushels per acre

Adapted from Shannon and Duclos.

In central Missouri, a survey indicates that over a 10-year period, soybean growers obtained an average increase of 13 from irrigating full-season soybeans.

In research sponsored by the grower check-off program, yields of 10 varieties grown in southwest Missouri during the dry years of 1983 and 1984 averaged 29 and 13 bushels more per acre respectively under irrigation.

In 1985, when plentiful rains occurred during the seed-fill period, yields increased by only about 1 bushel per acre.

The economics of achieving these yield increases are of paramount importance.

The type of irrigation system and the water source greatly affect cost.

Flood or furrow irrigation with a cheap water source may cost as little as $25 per acre per year, while a center pivot system with a deep well could cost as much as $100.

Prospective irrigators should weigh potential costs against returns they can expect from the increased yields and reduced risks created by irrigation.

In addition to influencing yields, irrigation may alter other characteristics of importance to soybean growers, such as maturity and lodging.

Irrigation delays the maturity of shortor midseason varieties only a few days.

Full-season varieties usually show no difference in maturity unless extended drought or charcoal rot infection occurs.

Plant height normally increases under irrigation, which increases the chance of lodging.

However, proper variety selection may reduce this problem.

Weather patterns and crop water use

Missouri rainfall patterns are characterized by sufficient winter and early spring rainfall that maintains the soil at or near saturation capacity until almost the first of June.

During late June, July and August, the crop's need for moisture usually exceeds that available from either the soil or rainfall.

Water requirements are a function of the plant's metabolic needs, the quantity needed for transpiration , and the quantity lost by evaporation from the soil.

This combined demand is called "evapotranspiration."

The peak water use period for soybeans occurs during reproductive growth, when they may need as much as 2.5 inches of water per week.

The average rainfall during this period is less than 0.6 inches per week.

Available soil moisture is depleted by the time reproductive growth begins, so unless you provide supplemental irrigation, the plant will be subjected to moisture stress.

Short-season varieties complete flowering and pod filling during the period of greatest evapotranspiration.

This results in decreased yields if you don't irrigate.

Full-season varieties normally reach their critical growth period after the period of the highest evapotranspiration passes.

Soybeans are most sensitive to moisture deficits during the late pod development/early bean filling periods.

Figure 1 depicts the yield response of northern soybeans relative to the time at which moisture stress develops.

Lack of water during flowering and podding causes flower and pod abortion.

Stress during pod development and early seed fill reduces the number of seeds per pod.

Drought conditions

during seed fill reduce seed size and thus final yield.

The critical period of water need for indeterminate varieties occurs from late flowering through mid pod fill.

For determinate varieties, such as those grown in the Bootheel, the period of greatest water need begins earlier in flowering.

The new determinate semidwarf varieties often show critical water needs through most stages of growth.

The effect of a moisture stress on soybean yield at various growth stages.

From Shaw and Laing, 1966.

lowa State University

Availability of soil moisture

Specific soil types have varying abilities to hold moisture.

The available soil moisture, in terms of inches of water held per foot depth of a soil, is described in Table 2.

Sandy soils retain the least amount of water, while silt loam and clay loam soils hold the most.

Note that clay soils have less available water than do clay loam soils.

Clay soils hold more water, but less of that water is available for plant growth because water adheres strongly to the clay particles.

Table 2 Potential available water storage capacity for various soil types

Soil type Available soil moisture per foot of depth

Loamy sands 1.0 inch

Sandy loam, clay loam 1.5 inches

Loams, silty clay loam 1.8 inches

Silt loams 2.5 inches

Adapted from Kiniry, Scrivner, and Keener, 1983.

You must also consider the rooting depth of the crop in a particular soil.

The effective rooting depth of soybeans ranges from a few inches after emergence to 2 to 3 feet during the early reproductive stages.

However, some Missouri soils are compacted and some acid sublayers restrict the effective rooting depth to that depth of topsoil above the compacted layer.

In these soils, it is wasteful to supply more water than is necessary to wet the upper zone.

You can measure or estimate soil moisture by a variety of methods.

Each has its advantages and limitations.

Irrigators who use soil moisture measurements for scheduling purposes usually establish an allowable soil moisture depletion level.

For soybeans, the limit is about 70 percent depletion in the vegetative stages and 50 percent for reproductive stages.

You should irrigate if you reach these levels.

To maintain the soil moisture content above the allowable depletion level, you should start irrigating sooner on sandy soil, which has a lower moisture storage capacity.

One of the quickest and most popular methods of determining soil moisture is based on feel and appearance of the soil.

Charts to aid inexperienced irrigators are available.

The method is not quantitative and requires individual judgment.

Thus, it lacks the precision of other methods.

Electrical resistance instruments, commonly called moisture blocks, measure the moisture content of the soil indirectly.

They sense a change in electrical properties of the blocks which correlates with block moisture content and, in turn, the soil moisture.

These devices consist of two electrodes mounted in blocks made of plaster-of-paris, fiberglass, gypsum or other materials.

Wires from the electrodes attach to a meter that measures electrical conductivity, a function of the water content of the soil.

To install moisture blocks, dig a hole with a soil auger and place the block in it.

Pack soil around the block to ensure good capillary action between the sensor and the soil.

Calibrate blocks in each field to ensure accurate prediction.

Moisture blocks are not recommended for sandy soils.

Tensiometers are well adapted to sandier soils.

Tensiometers measure the soil moisture tension how tightly the soil particles hold the water.

This is directly related to the tension required for plant roots to extract water from the soil.

Tensiometers consist of a tube with a porous ceramic cup at one end and a gauge at the other.

To install, place in the soil to the depth of plant rooting.

Fill with water.

The water will move from the cup into the soil until the water content reaches equilibrium.

As the soil dries, the tension increases, indicating water is more difficult to extract from the soil.