The results of the National Corn Growers Association's 2014 national corn yield contest are in, and no-tillers and strip-tillers proved that conservation practices can compete just as well as conventionally tilled fields.

For the second year, a national survey of farmers has documented a yield boost from the use of cover crops in corn and soybeans, as well as a wide variety of other benefits. The survey also details the challenges and benefits farmers expect from cover crops, data on the costs of seed and establishment, and insight into how farmers learn to manage covers.

The two primary requirements for soybean seed germination are temperatures above 50 F and seed moisture percentages greater than 50%. Air temperatures and seed moisture content during seed-filling are well above these minimums. But soybean seeds almost never germinate before maturity. Soybean, like many other grain crops, possess several mechanisms that prevent sprouting before maturity.

You could call Dean Sponheim an accidental conservationist. Well, at least initially, anyway. In 1999, Sponheim was frustrated that every year he had to replant a big chunk of a field that wasn't well tiled. "I was looking for a system where I didn't have to work it in the spring," he said.

This year, there is a very high degree of variability across the state with regards to soybean height, canopy coverage and overall crop condition.

As we enter the soybean reproductive growth phase there are a few things to keep in mind. The first is that soybeans will produce flowers for around 3 to 5 weeks, depending upon planting date and environment.

As soybean planting wraps up, it's time to consider evaluating soybean stands. Planting conditions were not always ideal this year. Soil conditions were a little wet when planting started and now have turned fairly dry in most areas. Here are some points to keep in mind when evaluating soybean stand.

Early season weed control is imperative to maximize soybean yield. Many soybean growers were unable to apply pre-emergence, residual herbicides prior to soybean emergence.

A move to strip-tilling corn with a homemade unit was an efficient path to consistent yields for Illinois farmer Charlie Durdan.

Slow planting progress this spring has led to all efforts focused on getting the crop in the ground. Often the first operation thrown to the wayside is application of pre-emergence herbicides in soybean. A decade ago this practice could be successful, but with widespread multiple herbicide resistance, it either sets up an imminent control failure or contributes to further evolution of herbicide resistance.