Narrow Versus Wide Rows in Soybean (30 in vs. 8 in )

Materials and Methods

In 2015 research was conducted at the SDSU Southeast experimental farm (Beresford), Volga, and Aberdeen.  Treatments included two soybean varieties, one variety adapted to narrow rows and white mold resistance and the other, adapted to wide rows and susceptible to white mold. The varieties were Volga: 2108R2 (resistant) and 2207R2 (susceptible); . At each location the soybean varieties were planted at two row spacings (8 and 30-inch), and four seeding rates (100K, 135K, 170K, and 205K). The experiment was planted on June 2nd 2015 at Volga.

Results

Data from this research revealed that narrow row yields were equal to or greater than yields in 30-inch row spacing and that higher seeding rates also increased yield. Additionally, variety performance was affected by row spacing in some instances. Some important changes in the treatment structure are needed to address current producer trends and concerns on variety selection for narrow versus wider row spacing.

The effect of row spacing had the same results at all three locations with greater yield with  8” rows than with 30” rows. The differences in yield were greater at Beresford and Aberdeen with yield increases of 2.9 and 2.3 bu/ac respectively than at Volga (0.8 bu/ac) (Table 1). The results show that narrow rows (8-inch) yield the same or slightly greater than wide rows (30 inch).  This was true at all locations. The yield advantage for narrow rows over wide rows ranged from 1 – 6 bu/acre depending on the location.

Modified From: 2016 Report “Narrow Versus Wide Rows in Soybean” By Thandiwe Nleya SDSU Associate Professor