Soybean Update:

Most of the soybeans are now in the R5 – R5.5 growth stage.  Once the seed fills the entire cavity in the top 4 nodes we get into R6.  This is the green bean stage when rapid accumulation of protein and seed size is being determined.  It also means our time to maximize yield is getting lower.  We will need more water to get the top end yields.  A lot of the top clusters where we normally get 3-4 pods on the top of the plant are showing 1 pod.  Some of the later maturity soybeans still have a few flowers at the top, they have the potential of getting that top cluster, but they are also barely R5 maturity and have a lot longer window until maturity.