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They're Sold On Twin-Row Soybeans
"I could go on for hours about what we've learned," says Dave Roggenbuck who, along with his father Vincent, brother Paul and brother-in-law Jeff, have been growing twin-rowed soybeans for six or seven years.
"The high population varieties we like to plant at 150,000 to 200,000 seeds per acre didn't produce well
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They're Sold On Twin-Row Soybeans CROPS New Techniques 21-3-37 "I could go on for hours about what we've learned," says Dave Roggenbuck who, along with his father Vincent, brother Paul and brother-in-law Jeff, have been growing twin-rowed soybeans for six or seven years.
"The high population varieties we like to plant at 150,000 to 200,000 seeds per acre didn't produce well in 30 in. rows because of overcrowding, while solid-seeded beans developed white mold. Our 15-in. rowed beans fell somewhere between," says Dave Roggenbuck.
Twin-rowed beans don't develop serious white mold problems like solid-seeded beans because of the 22 1/2-in. spacings between pairs of rows, the Snover, Mich., farmers note. Likewise, because the twinned rows support each other, they don't lodge in bad years like beans planted in 30-in. rows, they add.
Best of all, twin rows yield 3 to 5 bu. per acre better than 30-in. rowed beans, the same yield advantage produced by drilling soybeans.
To plant the twin rows 7 1/2 in. apart on 30-in. centers, the Roggenbucks built their own 12-row planter. It's equipped with two United Farm Tools (UFT) grain drill double disk openers per row.
Before planting, the Roggenbucks strip-till a clean 10-in. strip over each row using a Row-Tech Trans-Till toolbar which they invented. It combines what they feel are the best features of conventional and no-till planting equipment (Vol. 18, No. 4). They also typically inject 6 gpa of 10-34-0 at a depth of about 6 1/2 in. below where seed will be placed.
"In bad years, twin row beans really shine, yielding as much as 10 bu. per acre higher than 30-in. rowed beans.
"Some of that's attributable to variety, Group 0 to Mid-Group 2's, some to reduced lodging, and some to the fertilizer we put down before planting and the warmer seed-bed produced by Trans-Till," Dave says.
Twin rows provide more room to spray than solid-seeded or 15-in. rowed beans, he notes.
"As for harvesting, twin rows clip and feed nicely through our TR-97 New Holland combine equipped with Crary air reel. Plus, there's better visibility between rows than there is with solid-seeded or 15-in. beans," Dave adds.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Dave Roggenbuck, 645 North Germania Rd., Snover, Mich. 48472 (ph 810 672-9383).
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