As wheat harvest begins in Ohio, farmers may be considering double crop soybean. In other areas of the state, soybean planting is still underway due to wet spring weather. In either scenario, there are several adjustments to consider when soybean planting is delayed to the second half of June through early July.
- Soybean relative maturity. Relative maturity (RM) has little effect on yield when soybeans are planted during the first three weeks of May. However, the effect of RM can be larger for late plantings. When planting soybeans late, the latest maturing variety that will reach physiological maturity before the first killing frost is recommended. This is to allow the soybean plants to grow vegetatively as long as possible to produce nodes where pods can form before vegetative growth is slowed due to flowering and pod formation.
|
Region |
Planting Date |
Suitable RM |
|
Northern Ohio |
June 1-15 |
3.2-3.8 |
|
June 15-30 |
3.1-3.5 |
|
|
July 1-10 |
3.0-3.3 |
|
|
Central Ohio |
June 1-15 |
3.4-4.0 |
|
June 15-30 |
3.3-3.7 |
|
|
July 1-10 |
3.2-3.5 |
|
|
Southern Ohio |
June 1-15 |
3.6-4.2 |
|
June 15-30 |
3.5-3.9 |
|
|
July 1-10 |
3.4-3.7 |
Table 1. Recommended relative maturity (RM) ranges for soybean varieties planted in June and July in northern, central, and southern Ohio. Source: Ohio Agronomy Guide, 16th edition
- Row spacing. Double crop soybeans should be produced in narrow rows- 7.5 or 15-inch row spacing. The later soybeans are planted, the greater the yield increase due to narrow rows. Soybeans grown in narrow rows produce more grain because they capture more sunlight energy, which drives photosynthesis.
- Seeding rate. Soybean plant population at harvest for mid- to late June plantings should be between 130,000-150,000 plants per acre. Harvest population for early July plantings should be greater than 180,000 plants per acre. Harvest population is a function of seeding rate, quality of the planter operation, and seed germination percentage, and depends on such things as soil moisture condition, seed-soil contact, and disease pressure. As such, seeding rates need to be greater than the target plant population. For the last half of June, seed at least 175,000 seeds per acre, and for early July, seed at least 200,000 seeds per acre.
Economic Considerations
In addition to agronomic considerations, there are also economic considerations, especially in northern Ohio, where double crop soybean yield potential may be limited to 15 to 35 bushels per acre. With funding from Ohio Corn and Wheat, we created a profitability calculator to compare six cropping systems: 1) winter wheat only, 2) winter wheat + straw, 3) full season soybean (soybean only), 4) winter wheat (grown in 15-inch row width) with soybean intercropped, 5) winter wheat followed by double crop soybean, and 6) winter wheat + straw followed by double crop soybean.
To download the partial return calculator, visit: https://stepupsoy.osu.edu/wheat-production/wheat-profitability-calculator. After downloading the Excel-based partial return calculator, enter your crop prices, production costs, and estimated yield. If you are unsure of these values, check the OSU Extension Farm Office website at: farmoffice.osu.edu/farm-management. This website includes crop budgets, custom rates, and fertilizer prices. Once your crop prices, production costs, and estimated yield values are entered into the spreadsheet, the fourth tab on the spreadsheet will show estimated partial return for the six different cropping systems.
Using crop prices and input costs from June 2025, the most profitable cropping system is wheat grown in a 7.5-inch row width with double crop soybean and selling wheat straw (Table 2), using the following assumptions:
- Wheat yield of 93 bushels per acre. (Wheat seeded at 1,500,000 seeds per acre and sold at $5.25 per bushel.)
- Double crop soybean yield of 30 bushels per acre (Soybean seeded at 200,000 seeds per acre and sold at $10 per bushel.)
- Straw yield of 1.5 tons per acre and sold at $60 per ton in the windrow.
If these default values don’t reflect your yield potential or current prices, download the spreadsheet (https://stepupsoy.osu.edu/wheat-production/wheat-profitability-calculator) to enter your own values.
Table 2. Estimated partial return of six cropping systems using June 2025 crop prices and input costs.
Crop Observation and Recommendation Network
C.O.R.N. Newsletter is a summary of crop observations, related information, and appropriate recommendations for Ohio crop producers and industry. C.O.R.N. Newsletter is produced by the Ohio State University Extension Agronomy Team, state specialists at The Ohio State University and the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC). C.O.R.N. Newsletter questions are directed to Extension and OARDC state specialists and associates at Ohio State.
