<body><div><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=4IYTVq_1AbjkLpf00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=4IYTVq_1AbjkLpf00" width="1200" height="630" >Walt Rambo found his ideal soybean seed rate the same way he got into farming: the “hard way.” The son of a preacher and a bank teller, Rambo is a first-generation farmer from Inverness, Miss., and he and his wife have fought hard to build a solid farming enterprise. In tough years, such as 2024 and 2025, maintaining that hard-won legacy has meant finding innovative ways to cut costs.“When I started looking through my data this winter after last year’s harvest, the one thing I can put my finger on as the way that I saved money in the last couple of years has been by lowering my seed rate in soybeans,” Rambo said. For the first 11 years, Rambo farmed his mostly clay soils on 30-inch rows until he moved to twin-row soybeans in 38-inch rows to try to increase drainage. Having wide rows and double-stacked seedlings highlighted the challenges of dropping soybean seed rates the first year he attempted to make the switch based on research out of Bayer’s Scott Research Center in Stoneville, Miss.“In 2023, I planted 80,000 [seeds],” Rambo said. “What I learned from that was if you have a perfect spring, you will get a perfect stand. But if you have any inclement weather behind that, you don’t have to put enough pushing power when you split that population between two rows. I had a lot of replanting to do and some failed stands that didn’t make very good crop.”Recent research out of Mississippi State University shows soybean seed rates can have consistent success as low as 105,000 seeds per acre, compared with the common standard 135,000 seeds per acre, without impacting yield. Although 80,000 seeds per acre might have been a little low, Rambo was committed to trying a lower seed rate again the following year because of the improved costs.“A simple example is if you’re paying $65 for a treated bag of soybeans and you plant the 140,000 seed rate that we all used to do — well, that’s easy math: That’s $65 an acre,” Rambo said. “If I plant 100,000 seeds per acre, it’s only $46.43. I’m saving $18 per acre right out of the gate. On a 1,000-acre operation, that’s pretty simple math to say I’m saving almost $20,000 before I even get started with just a management decision.”The 100,000 seed per acre rate not only saved some cash, but it also provided proven results beyond Rambo’s expectations.“What I’m seeing on my farm is a lot more lateral branching that almost puts off vegetative nodes like a cotton plant does, and I lap my middles within a day or two of what I would have done on twin rows,” Rambo said. “I’m lowering my seed cost, and my yields have actually been trending up since I swapped to this method.”<h2>What’s next? Drilling deeper </h2>Maximizing soybean seed rates means not only cutting down on costs but also selecting the ideal rate for each area of the field and optimizing yield with the lowest plant population. For a pathway to achieve that this year, Rambo looked to case studies that two of his neighbors completed successfully.“My neighbor bought a 12-row smart planter to be able to plant with a variable rate, mostly on his corn,” Rambo said. “He set out to plant some beans on a single row, with 40-inch rows and broke his field into three zones.”With some check strips left in the field at the recommended 140,000 seeding rate, the neighbor planted an average seeding rate of around 90,000, with a rate of 80,000 on his strongest ground, 100,000 on his mid-performing ground and 120,000 on the lower-yielding areas of the field. “He planted an 80-acre field, and he did twin-row 40 on one side like he’s always done it in a set population with the variable on the other side; same soil type, same field, same variety, same water, and it was about 5 to 6 bushels better on the variable-rate single row than it was twin row side with the set rate,” Rambo said. Another of Rambo’s neighbors follows a similar pattern — 65,000 seeds on great ground, 95,000 on average ground and 125,000 on the worst-performing field spots, with an overall rate landing around 86,000. The results, despite different soil types and field conditions, were nearly identical. “What’s neat to me about these two guys, they both come back with basically the same yield, and they’re in very different soil types and situations,” Rambo said. “This past year, they were right around 86 bushels an acre, which is pretty solid, I don’t care where you’re at.”</div></body>

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Walt Rambo found his ideal soybean seed rate the same way he got into farming: the “hard way.”. The son of a preacher and a bank teller, Rambo is a first-generation farmer from Inverness, Miss., and he and his wife have fought hard to build a solid farming enterprise. In tough years, such as 2024 and 2025, maintaining that hard-won legacy has meant finding innovative ways to cut costs.

Changing soybean seed-rate strategy can cut costs

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Walt Rambo found his ideal soybean seed rate the same way he got into farming: the “hard way.”. The son of a preacher and a bank teller, Rambo is a first-g

Changing soybean seed-rate strategy can cut costs

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