Soybean Seed Yield Response to Plant Density by Yield Environment in North America

Core Ideas Soybean seed yield response to plant density is dependent on yield environment. Low yield environments required higher plant densities than high yield environments. Plant density mainly affected per‐plant seed number. No differences in plant survival were observed among yield environments. Inconsistent soybean [ Glycine max (L.) Merr.] seed yield response to plant density has been previously reported. Moreover, recent economic and productive circumstances have caused interest in within‐field variation of the agronomic optimal plant density (AOPD) for soybean. Thus, the objectives of this study were to: (i) determine the AOPD by yield environments (YE) and (ii) study variations in yield components (seed number and weight) related to the changes in seed yield response to plant density for soybean in North America. During 2013 and 2014, a total of 78 yield‐to‐plant density responses were evaluated in different regions of the United States and Canada. A soybean database evaluating multiple seeding rates ranging from 170,000 to 670,000 seeds ha −1 was collected, including final number of plants, seed yield, and its components (seed number and weight). The data was classified in YEs: low (LYE, <4 Mg ha −1 ), medium (MYE, 4–4.3 Mg ha −1 ), and high (HYE, >4.3 Mg ha −1 ). The main outcomes were: (i) AOPD increased by 24% from HYE to LYE, (ii) per‐plant yield increased due to a decrease in plant density: HYE > MYE > LYE, and (iii) per‐plant yield was mainly driven by seed number across plant densities within a YE, but both yield components influenced per‐plant yield across YEs. This study presents the first attempt to investigate the seed yield‐to‐plant density relationship via the understanding of plant establishment and yield components and by exploring the influence of weather variables defining soybean YEs.