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| Nebraska is the king of no till. We've been doing it here since the early 90's in the East and south east parts of the state. I've planted soybeans with a cyclo planter with no openers and it works fine and with a 1775 john deere with yetter row cleaners which is common practice. The lead blade design of the case IH planters is extremely effective and technically doesn't need row cleaners to work well with soybeans. The Deere needs row cleaners.
My advice:
1. Plant a higher population. In 30 inch rows that would be 140,000-160,000. We are mostly 30 inch rows here because we are south of I80 where we get plenty of sunlight and it allows for the planters to plant corn or soybeans which is more economical. This compensates for not planting into perfect conditions like tillage provides.
2. Plant treated seed in April and early May. After that its up to your environment.
3. Set the planter to plant 1.75 inches. That way in perfect conditions this is your depth and in imperfect conditions with hard ground or a lot of residue your still getting them in at a decent depth.
4. Try to plant between the old rows. Less trash than the stocks themselves for the planters to deal with.
5. Stock rollers. Some guys use them, some don't. I currently don't. Becks PFR shows some yield gain with the yetter rollers.
6. Don't worry if your depth sucks or you see a few on the ground. They will sprout when it rains or in Dewey mornings because the residue keeps the beans moist.
7. Don't look at or worry about stand counts. Close your eyes for a month and all will be fine.
8. Crusting isn't generally an issue because the ground won't dry out thanks to the residue. You can plant in some ****ty conditions and get away with things you couldn't with tillage.
9. Good luck, you've just learned the easiest and most economical way to grow a soybean with no manpower other than your own.
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No till bean in cornstalks
