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How many soybean seeds are in a 50-pound bag?
The size of soybean seeds has little effect on yield performance. Bill Wiebold Personnel in the seed industry have discussed selling soybean seed by count rather than by weight for a number of years. A few firms now provide soy seed by count, but this is by no means the norm.
- The seed industry indicates that soybean varieties with the new Roundup Ready 2 YieldTM trait will be offered by seed count rather than by weight.
- The seed unit for price purposes for Roundup Ready 2 YieldTM will be 140,000 seeds, however specifics may change.
- The standard price unit for soybean seed has been the 50-pound bag.
Bulk sales of soybean seed are becoming prevalent, although these big quantities are also priced according to their weight. If seed weight is 2800 seeds per pound, a 50-pound bag will contain 140,000 seeds. Average seed size is 2800 seeds per pound, however seed size varies greatly across types and is significantly affected by environmental conditions during seed filling.
Changes in seed size necessitated alterations in the quantity of seeds in a bag, according to prevailing market customs. A 50-pound bag would hold 160,000 seeds if the seed size was significantly reduced to 3200 seeds per pound. Under the new market standard, 140,000 seeds would weigh 43.8 pounds if they weigh 3,200 seeds per pound.
Some soybean farmers may have chosen cultivars with tiny seeds on purpose so that they could purchase more seeds for the same cost. This reduces seed expenditures per acre if planters are calibrated by seed count rather than weight. Farmers may thus oppose purchasing soybean seeds by seed count.
I cannot recommend either technique of selling soybean seed, but purchasing soybean seed by seed count offers at least one advantage. Farmers appreciate the significance of calibrating planters to specific seed counts as opposed to a generic seed weight. Knowing the seeding rate in seed number and purchasing seed by count enables producers to correctly predict the number of seeds of each variety required to plant a certain area of land, independent of seed size.
Purchasing the right amount of seed saves time and money, and may decrease the amount of seed returned. Although many businesses permit seed returns, these returns add hidden expenses to the price of seeds. Returning treated seed is far more difficult due to restrictions on usage other than planting.
- As soybean seeds grow more expensive, it is increasingly common to safeguard them using seed treatments.
- Purchasing seeds by count may allow for a change in focus from seed size to more crucial variety features.
- Significantly more significant than seed size in determining the economics of soybean cultivation are yield potential and insect resistance.
In the majority of instances, seed size has little effect on emerging rate, seedling vigor, or yield potential. Smaller seeds have less reserves, thus planting depth management may be more crucial when dealing with these seeds. Small seeds that have prematurely matured because of intense late-season stress may be less robust than usual because the physiological systems essential for germination did not develop normally.
Prior to 2006, our guidelines were formulated before the introduction of roundup-resistant cultivars. Do we still need to alter our seeding rate based on planting date, tillage, or row spacing? What is the complete story about seeding rate and economics? In the past, overseeding served as a precautionary measure to ensure the right stand since seeds were inexpensive, but who can afford this now? Table 3.
| 7.5 inch | 200,000 seeds per acre |
| 15 inch | 175,000 seeds per acre |
| 30 inch | 150,000 seeds per acre |
Numerous studies were launched in 2003 to see if the existing seeding rates are suitable and to update our suggestion. Even though we will conclude the research in 2006, I’ve decided to publish some of the data we’ve discovered after conducting more than 30 trials over the course of three years.
We do not observe any interactions between seeding rate and row spacing, which is an important finding that I can reveal immediately. You do not need to raise your seeding rate when utilizing a row spacing of 15 inches as opposed to 30 inches. I do all of my study using a comparison of 15 and 30 inch row spacing, as the trend indicates that drills will likely disappear in the near future.
Importantly, whether you are planting late or replanting, you do not need to raise your sowing rate. It’s all about weed control if you must plant late. Simply said, we want 100,000 healthy, uniformly dispersed plants per acre. I advise farmers to test whether they can manage a reduced sowing rate (Table 4).
Soybeans are extremely susceptible to early-season weed competition in high-yielding areas, thus early-season weed control must be improved. If not, yield loss will result from lower seeding rates. If you have ideal seedbed conditions at planting, I recommend a sowing rate of 125,000 to 140,000 viable seeds per acre (which must be raised if germination is less than 90 percent).
Increasing your seeding rate to 140,000 seeds per acre may be advantageous if your seedbed is moist or if you have a large amount of residue because you are employing reduced tillage techniques. The final stand of 100,000 plants per acre can be targeted with the use of a choice tool.
| 15 inch | 125,000 to 140,000 seeds per acre |
| 30 inch | 125,000 to 140,000 seeds per acre |
It is no secret that sowing 20 to 30 percent more seed than necessary is a costly insurance policy. Improved planter technology and improved seed quality have led to more accurate plant populations and stand establishment that are only slightly lower than the seeding rate and do not necessitate a 20 to 30 percent overseeding.
Clearly, we may make additional suggestions for seeding rates in the future. Soybean is not a crop grown to increase corn yields; it should be treated with the same importance as corn. If you want to maintain the profitability of your soybean crop, it’s essential to employ the correct management techniques.
Downloadable (as a PDF file) is a fact sheet on soybean plant population. Decision aid for factors that influence seeding rate
What is the highest price ever paid for soybeans?
In September of 2012, Soybeans achieved an all-time high of $1,794.75. The last update to soybeans’ statistics, projections, and historical chart occurred in November of 2022.
