Your Monthly Update High Yield Team #FirstName#, thank you for joining the Successful Farming High Yield Team, your source for knowledge, information, inspiration, and motivation to help you identify critical soybean production issues and, ultimately, to help you increase your yields. Check it out at: www.agriculture.com/yield LATEST HIGHT YIELD TEAM NEWS Plan ahead for higher yields Bumper soybean yields start with preseason planning like sound variety selection, targeted early planting dates, diversified maturities, and seed protection. Here are four ideas to help you get a jump start on higher yields for 2009. • Read more >> • See more from the Team >>   SOYBEAN TALK No-till beans for a one-man show A corn and soybean farmer is stretched pretty thin managing his 800-acre farm. He's heard neighbors talk up no-till as a way to achieve good yields while cutting some of the workload. These reasons alone make no-till an attractive option. "I wouldn't mind cutting out a few operations, as I am by myself farming and feel a bit stretched thin especially this time of year running 800 acres split corn/soybeans," he says. But, he's wondering whether yields will keep up once he makes the shift. It can definitely be a big transition, farmers say in a recent Crop Talk discussion. But, when it comes to cost savings on machinery and inputs, it's a good move if the right pieces are in place. "About 10 years ago when I made the switch from conventional till to no-till, and after keeping track of all engine hours accumulated producing crops for 10 years before that, I went from one engine hour per acre with conventional farming to one-half engine hour per acre under no-till farming," says one Crop Talk member. • Join the discussion >> • Also: Soybean plant population questions >> ADVERTISEMENT Get ready for massive soybean yield potential! Roundup Ready 2 Yield soybeans have been proven in four years of field trials to deliver 7-11 percent higher yield than Roundup Ready soybeans. These soybeans deliver Power in the Pod, giving you more beans per pod, more bushels in the bin and more profit potential per acre. All of this is thanks to Location, Location, Location. By mapping the soybean DNA and using advanced insertion and selection technologies, the Roundup Ready 2 Yield gene is situated in a DNA region that has a positive impact on yield. Discover the wave of yield the Power in the Pod of Roundup Ready 2 Yield can deliver in your fields. • Get more information >> PRODUCTION NEWS AND NOTES Farmers sticking to their crop rotation guns Input costs are downright crazy right now, and the grain markets are far from stable. These factors and others make it tough to nail down how to best maximize your inputs and expenses when it comes to crop rotation. So, when everything else is so up-in-the-air, it's causing some farmers to take a balanced approach as they look ahead to '09 crop rotations. There are factors today that play a larger role in crop rotation decisions, but for many, it's what makes the most agronomic sense that goes through the planter tubes in the spring. • Read more >> • Also: Factors to consider when building on-farm grain storage >>   MARKETS NEWS Ron and Sue Mortensen: No ordinary year "In an ordinary year, the harvest lows would be place and demand would be of primary importance to market participants. Fieldwork would be winding down and farmers would be starting to evaluate cash flows, needed sales and income tax issues," write Market Analysts Ron and Sue Mortensen. "This year, there is no harvest low. There is a broad low that is remarkably like the stock market lows. It has lasted for about a month. A chart of corn or soybeans looks remarkably like a chart of S&P futures. Crude oil is also a big factor in market performance. And there is no evidence that the market is just about to rally. Trumping all of this is deep-rooted fear. Until it no longer feels like the end of the world is near, ag futures will have a hard time making a meaningful rally." • Read more >> • Also: Roy Smith -- Why do you care? >> HIGH YIELD TEAM EXPERT PANEL This team is ready to help you: Mark Bernard, a New Richland, Minnesota, crop consultant Jim Beuerlein, Ohio State University Extension agronomist Marc Curtis, Leland, Mississippi, farmer Larry Heatherly, retired research agronomist, USDA-ARS soybean research unit, Stoneville, Mississippi Ron Heck, Perry, Iowa, farmer Chuck Myers, Lyons, Nebraska, farmer Palle Pedersen, Iowa State University Extension agronomist Wayne Pedersen, retired University of Illinois plant pathologist Ray Rawson, a Farwell, Michigan, farmer and agribusinessman Jim Specht, University of Nebraska soybean geneticist • Learn more about the experts >> Successful Farming High Yield Team Update is created by: John Walter - Agriculture Online Executive Editor Gil Gullickson - Successful Farming Crops Technology Editor Mike McGinnis - Agriculture Online Chicago Markets Bureau Chief Jeff Caldwell - Agriculture Online Multimedia Editor Jason Meeker - Interactive Media Producer Additional contributions come from the editorial staff of Successful Farming magazine, our grassroots network of correspondents and the visitors and friends to www.agriculture.com http://www.agriculture.com . 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