http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5301-6466
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ABSTRACT
State yield contests offer a unique opportunity to examine the high end of crop productivity. Yield-contest-entered and average-yielding areas on the same or a similar soil can provide large yield and soil property variations to better examine the relationships among various near-surface soil properties and soybean (Glycine max L. [Merr.]) yield. The objective of this study was to evaluate the relationships among a suite of near-surface soil properties and soybean yield across average- and high-yield areas using state yield-contest sites. Multiple regression analyses were conducted to evaluate best-fit relationships among various soil physical, chemical, and biological properties and yield separately for average- and high-yielding areas and for data combined across yield areas. Soybean yield variation was most explained for the high-yield-area dataset (R2 = 73%) and less explained for the average-yield-area (R2 = 51%) and the combined (R2 = 50%) datasets. Extractable soil Ca and S explained the largest proportion of yield variation (37% and 31% of total sum of squares) in the high-yield setting and both were inversely related to yield. A better understanding of the soil environment may be a key component of more frequent attainment of the 6270 kg ha−1 (100 bu acre−1) soybean yield mark. Additional soil properties, beyond those evaluated in this study, may need to be included for a more complete understanding of the soil environment that is associated with high-yield soybean production.
Acknowledgment
Field and laboratory assistance provided by Johan Desrochers, Willy Smartt, Matt Sena, Kaylee Rice, and Jeff Velie is gratefully acknowledged.
Funding
This research was funded by the Arkansas Soybean Research and Promotion Board.