I am seeing more and more growers reverting back to planting soybeans in rows.Two reasons for this.One is the improved metering capability for seed drop acuracy.This helps keep seed costs down.The second is the improved consistency in depth control and uniform emergence that a unit planter offers.The shot above shows a 20 inch row spacing.The recommended seeding rate for a 20 inch row is 180,000 seed drop.At 2800 seeds per lb the required seeding rate would be 64lbs of seed per acre.This would equate to a seed drop of 6.8 beans per foot of row.Best way to measure this is by using Bungy straps to tie up the closing wheels and make a run down a firm headland at normal planting speed.Go back and count the beans dropped in 10 feet of row.( 26,134 lineal ft in a 20 inch row )

Here's a shot of 24 inch rows.There are 21,778 lineal ft in a 24 inch row.At a recommended 170,000 seed drop one would need to drop 60 lbs of seed of a 2800 seed per pound variety to achieve this drop.That equates to 8 beans per foot.

On good productive soils one could get by with dropping only 7.5 beans per foot or only 165,000

seed drop per acre.Both 20 and 24 inch rows will help achieve more sunlight penetration to dry the soybean canopy after rains.This is very important along with better air circulation to reduce the incidence of white mould should white mould be a menace of yours.

Here's a shot of the Grand Daddy of them all WIDE ROW SOYBEANS - 30 inches.One only needs to drop 140,000 seeds per care in wide rows.Thats 8 beans per foot of row ( 8 x 17,423 lineal feet = 139,384 seeds per acre ) Seed costs

here would be minimized as you only need to drop 50 pounds of seed per acre based on a 2800 seed per pound seed size. ( 50 x 2800 = 140,000 ) I have seen up to 70 bu per acre soybeans grown on good productive soils in the Kent Essex area of Southwestern Ontario in a 30 inch row. The growing season is much too shorter in areas of 2800 HU or less to do this as well.