Multiple Varieties Increases SC Soybean Farmer’s Yield

John Rivers, of Rivers Farms, in Sumter, South Carolina, grows corn, wheat and soybeans on his 2,000 acre farm. Rivers grows all short-season soybeans behind wheat, with some acres irrigated. Rivers says this year’s soybean yields were good:

“I averaged 55 bushels to the acre across the entire crop. Some varieties were better than others but the difference between dry land and irrigated was very little this year.”
 

Rivers explains that he plants more than one variety of soybeans:
 

“I usually plant part of my farm with Pioneer beans and the other part I use another variety, depending on dry land or irrigated, whatever seems to work best on that land.”
 

While irrigated soybeans are a bit unusual, Rivers explains why he has some irrigated bean acres:
 

“I put as much corn on there as possible but I have to have it on rotation.”
 

And there was very little difference between Rivers’ dryland and irrigated soybean crops.
 

There was a lot of talk about kudzu bug on this year’s soybean crop, especially in South Carolina and Georgia. Rivers says they weren’t especially a problem for him:
 

“I found very few this year. Last year I found a good deal of the bugs, but not this year. I sprayed one time for worms and during that I sprayed for the kudzu bug as well. But I didn’t need to other than that. It was unusual, as I was told to expect a lot of them this year.”
 

In his wheat/soybean rotation, Rivers explains that his wheat acres might be up just a bit, but only because of keeping up the rotation he’s set out for his farm:

“Roughly year to year its 1000 acres of wheat and soybeans but this year it will be a little bit less.”
 

John Rivers of Rivers Farm near Sumter, South Carolina. For more on our harvest in the Carolinas series, click here.
While there, check out all the yield contest rules and deadlines, for corn, soybeans, and sorghum.