Farmers may have planted soybeans much later than usual, but
favorable late-season weather may have offset typical concerns
about a later maturing crop, according to one Ohio State
University researcher. "Some of the fields were planted so late
that the effects on overall maturity were unpredictable," says
Leah McHale, a soybean researcher with the Ohio Agricultural
Research and Development Center, and an assistant professor in
the Department of Horticulture and Crop Science. "The effect of
planting date didn't have as much impact on overall maturity as
we might have expected." In fact, the usual estimate of delay in
maturity equaling one third of the delay in planting date is
holding true for Ohio fields at the first of September. "In
other words, if you planted three weeks late, the soybeans are
only about a week behind now," she says. Because weather in the
critical soybean development month of August was largely
favorable across Ohio, McHale sees soybeans in the region as
largely well performing, particul