Mystery Soybean Crop

Mystery Soybean Crop CROPS Miscellaneous Frank Baumgartner who farms near Princeton N C recently called FARM SHOW to report a strange pattern he noticed this summer in a 32-acre field of soybeans Photos taken with a drone by his grandson show marked differences in the crop’s color and height which neither he nor anyone else can explain     “I’ve farmed all my life but have never had anything like this happen before ” says Baumgartner     He planted 12 acres of beans one day last spring and then had to quit because of rain Two days later he planted the remaining 20 acres     “I used the same IH 12-row 20-in planter on both days ” says Baumgartner “In the part of the field that I planted the first day the beans are a uniform dark green color However where I planted the second day the beans alternate 12 rows dark green and 12 rows light green     “The difference in color shows up only on that second day of planting and you can see it both from the ground and the air It looks like I changed varieties but I used the same bean variety on the entire field     “What’s more the field planted on the first day is 8 to 12 in taller than the striped field ”     Baumgartner says he did all the planting and other field work by himself with no hired help He used the same burn-down and pre-emergent herbicides and the same insecticides on the entire field     “I can’t explain it and neither can my county agent or other farmers in our area ” says Baumgartner “I plan to yield check the different parts of the field this fall I’d like to know if anyone can explain what might have happened ”     Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Frank Baumgartner Princeton N C ph 919 330-8277; mcreekfm@gmail com

To read the rest of this story, download this issue below or click here to register with your account number.