Planting early is almost always a good idea. There are aspects and elements that we can’t control like the weather that tend to throw the best laid plans out the window, but in general, the theory is simple. The soybean plant is a factory that produces soybeans. That factory runs primarily on sunlight. The more exposure to that sunlight, the more productive the factory.
Obviously there’s more to it than that, but that’s the most basic element in crop production. With that in mind, it’s a great starting point to do everything you can to help that little factory operate. That’s where variety selection comes into play. As OMAFRA Soybean Specialist Horst Bohner explains, early planting is a concept that has to be married to variety selection to be of any real advantage to a grower. According to Bohner, if you are going to plant early you must select a longer maturing been in order to take advantage of the full growing season.
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