Growing soybean in Minnesota

Soybean growth stages — Crop stage impacts management decisions around crop damage, pesticide applications, and harvest.

Variety selection

Which traits are important when selecting a soybean variety? Learn more about new aphid- and SCN-resistant varieties adapted to Minnesota and how to better position varieties across your fields.

• Choose the best soybean varieties for your field

• Soybean varieties with non-88788 resistance adapted to Minnesota

• Aphid-resistant soybean varieties for Minnesota fields

• MN adapted 2020 private soybean varieties with Peking resistance

Variety trials

Statewide trials

Soybean field crop variety trials – Each year, the Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station conducts performance tests of appropriately adapted public and private soybean entries. In addition to yield performance, entries are evaluated on iron deficiency chlorosis (IDC), protein and oil values, and resistance to certain diseases.

Regional trials – Southeastern Minnesota

• Early and late maturity glyphosate tolerant/Roundup Ready® soybean
• Dicamba-tolerant soybean yield results

Reports by county or individual plots

Generate a personalized soybean plot report

Planting is the most critical management period for soybean production. By following strategies for planting soybeans in Minnesota, producers can maximize yield and profits.

• Soybean planting basics
• Best dates and conditions for planting soybean in Minnesota
• Recommended soybean seeding rates in Minnesota
• How to avoid yield loss with late-planted soybeans

• Soybean fertilizer recommendations — Fertilizer rate and application timing guidelines.
• Soybean nutrient calculator — Phosphate and potash recommendations based on the yield goal and soil test.
• Managing iron deficiency chlorosis (IDC)

• Spring frost damage on soybean
• Floods and moisture stress
• Hail’s impact on soybean crops
• Fall frost and Minnesota soybean

Soybean damage and replanting — How to evaluate crop damage, make stand counts, assess regrowth potential, and decide whether to replant.

The UMN Extension crops team wants to help you with disease diagnosis. Visit Digital Crop Doc, tell us more about your field situation and submit photos. One of our team members will contact you with a diagnosis, a request for more information, or a suggestion to submit the samples to a plant disease clinic.

Plant diseases

Soybean insects

• Insecticide resistance management in soybean
• Protecting pollinators in and near soybean
• Report insecticide failures for soybean aphid
• Effectiveness of neonicotinoid seed treatments in soybean (Purdue University)

Harvest delays due to flooding

• When standing water submerges soybean pods for a significant time, seed quality is a concern. Wet conditions combined with warm temperatures increase the risk of damage from fungal pathogens.

• If areas were submerged for several days, stems may weaken or rot, increasing the chance of lodging and harvest losses. Prior hail damage or previous stem diseases may predispose plants to further injury.

• Pod shatter before harvest is a concern, especially if soybeans go through several cycles of drying and rewetting.

Submerged soybeans

• If soybeans were submerged in the field, consider segregating these potentially lower-quality soybeans.

• Segregation may be particularly beneficial if you intend to sell soybeans to a specialty market where premiums are based on soybean quality.

Affect of delays

• Delayed harvest will affect your ability to conduct fall tillage operations and fertilizer applications. The main focus is, of course, to get crops out of the field.

• As field conditions improve and harvest resumes, keep an eye on crop status when deciding which fields to harvest next. This will help maximize crop quality and yield.

Storage

• Managing stored grain with aeration
• Selecting fans and determining airflow for grain bins
• Storing, drying and handling wet soybeans

Producing high-quality soybeans

Farmers in Minnesota and the Dakotas raise some of the highest-quality soybeans in the world.  Since the majority of soybeans grown in this region are bound for markets around the world,  delivering a quality product with limited foreign material is essential.

Managing foreign matter and keeping soybeans clean is a multi-pronged approach:

• Weed management: Use approved herbicides judiciously and other weed management tactics to keep fields clean from planting through harvest.
• Harvest: Use proper combine settings to keep foreign material out of the hopper and harvest at the proper moisture content to reduce splitting and cracking.
• Storage: Monitor grain bins and aerate to keep soybeans in condition.

Managing foreign material in soybean videos

• Overview (2020; 04:28)
• Pre-plant decisions (2020; 06:08)
• Pre-emergence weed control (2020; 05:10)
• Post-emergence weed control (2020; 04:07)
• Pre-harvest preparations (2020; 07:50)
• Harvest (2020; 03:20)
• Storage (2020; 04:30)
• Quality focused (2020; 03:38)

Seed quality reports

• 2024 U.S. soybean quality report
• 2023 U.S. soybean quality report
• 2022 U.S. soybean quality report
• 2021 U.S. soybean quality report
• 2020 U.S. food soybean quality report (Corrected May 2021)
• 2020 U.S. soybean quality report (Corrected May 2021)