Soybean Planting Dates and Maturity Groups for Mississippi

It is nearly April and many producers are itching to start planting soybeans in Mississippi.  Given that, I figured now would be a good time to re-post some information from a large multi-state study that looked at the interaction of soybean maturity groups (MG) and planting dates.  The study was conducted between 2012 and 2014 at 10 locations across 7 states in the Mid-South (MO, AR, TN, MS, TX, LA).  There were two study locations in Mississippi, Stoneville and Verona.  For the study, MG 3, 4, 5, and 6 soybeans were planted at 4 planting dates from March to June.  Both study locations were planted on raised beds and furrow irrigated.  The results are presented below.

For Stoneville, we can see that MG 4 soybeans planted in April are your best bet for maximizing soybean yield.  Yields were consistently the highest from the last week in March to well after 1 May, meaning that if you have a shot to plant your MG 4 soybeans from here on out through April, you are in good shape.

For Verona, we see a similar trend to Stoneville with the MG 4 soybean planted in early April achieving the highest yields.  However, yields fell off slightly as planting dates were delayed to late April and early May.  Note that in Verona, the MG 5 soybeans performance was only slightly lower than the MG 4’s over across the planting dates.

Keep in mind that Stoneville represents more of a sandy loam/silt loam “cotton type” soil while Verona is more representative of a heavier clay type soil common across Mississippi.  Not surprisingly, the sandy loam/silt loam soil type is much more forgiving and allows for a wider planting window than the heavier soil.  Keep this in mind when deciding where to begin planting.

As always, if you have any questions, feel free to give us a call.  Happy planting.