The planting season of soybeans in Brazil is short, around three months. For this reason, the farmer knows exactly what they need to have positive results in the crop field: agricultural machines that sow efficiently and fast.
The good numbers of the sector justify the growing search for agricultural technologies able to ensure agility and precision to those who work in the field. A study published by the Institute for Applied Economic Research (IPEA) shows the importance of the grain growing for the development of the country economy and food production for the world.
Currently, Brazil is the biggest soybeans exporter in the world. The production quality is directly linked to the management techniques, constant evolution to plant soybeans even under unfavorable weather conditions such as little rain and temperatures above the average in the history.
This article covers the best practice to ensure yield in soybeans planting by using agricultural machines equipped with precision technologies. In addition, there is advice for strategies to grow grain and the main Stara planting solutions.
Stages of soybeans planting and usage of agricultural machines
The planting process success relies on a series of activities that involve soil preparation, the correct management, and the usage of agricultural machines that provide precision and efficiency.
Investing in agricultural machines for all the soybeans growing stages, not only when sowing them. Check out an overview on how the agricultural technologies can be used to boost the production efficiency and the best practice to reach higher yield:
1. Soil preparation
The first step to ensure a productive harvest is the proper soil preparation. Good planning involves the soil pH correction, fertilizing and controlling pests and weeds.
The soil should be well drained, with good retaining capacity of water and nutrients.
In this stage, using agricultural spreaders is advised to ensure soil cover precision and fertilizer and other agricultural inputs application that are necessary to correct soil acidity during the preparation for soybeans planting.
2. Choose the perfect crop and quality seeds
Choosing the soybeans crop for your area and soil conditions is a crucial factor. Depending on your farm location and specific challenges the weather conditions impose, it’s necessary to choose soybeans variety that is resistant to diseases and severe conditions such as drought.
Treatment of seeds is an essential practice to ensure healthy germination and the initial development of the plants, improving the results and profitability. For this reason, choosing certified and proper seeds to your area ensures high germination levels.
3. Sowing
In this stage, planters and seeders equipped with agricultural technologies ensure that the seeds are planted correctly and in the proper space, optimizing the growing of plants and final yield.
A high-performance planter can sow large areas in a short period of time, which is important to fulfil the goals per hectare planted a day on the farm and improve the soybeans planting results.
4. Fertilizing and application of agricultural chemicals
During the planting process, plenty of agricultural machines feature systems that enable the simultaneous application of agricultural inputs.
The Stara self-propelled sprayer, Imperador 3.0 - the only 3 in 1 in the world, is an example. The equipment gathers a fertilizer spreader, an agricultural sprayer, and a pneumatic seeder.
5. Monitoring the crop field with agricultural technologies
During the crop development, crop monitoring is crucial to ensure the grain is developing as expected. Agricultural machines equipped with sensors and GPS are more frequently used in Precision Agriculture, as they detect areas with issues and allow corrective actions in specific points of the farm.
The constant monitoring of the crop plants is essential to make fast decisions. Services such as Telemetria Stara also enable the farmer to monitor the crop field conditions.
6. Harvest and transport of grains onto grain carts
In this stage, using harvesters ensure an efficient harvest and minimum losses. Additionally, the grain carts optimize the soybeans harvest logistics by saving time and grain transport resources to the storage points as trucks and corn silo stock. During high yields, when the harvest flow is intense, having an agricultural machine as a support during operations is essential to keep agility.
Grain carts play a fundamental role to reduce soil damages as they avoid the traffic of heavy vehicles directly in crop growing areas. It reduces soil compaction, which could harm future harvests.
Check out the Stara agricultural machines
How to choose planters and seeders to grow soybeans?
When choosing an agricultural machine for soybeans planting, it is advisable to consider several factors that may impact directly on the equipment performance. Consequently, the crop field yield. Here are some crucial points:
1. Planter size
The planter capacity is related to the number of row units the machine can plant simultaneously. For larger farms, planters with a higher number of row units are the most recommended, as they increase efficiency and reduce the operating time.
The Stara Absoluta planter is an excellent option for larger areas. The robust and flexible chassis copies the terrain precisely, ensuring planting uniformity, even under adverse conditions. Planting uniformity is essential for the uniform development of the plants.
On the other hand, the Stara Eva planter stands out due to the easy maintenance, control, and calibration via smartphone, making the farmer daily basis easier. Thanks to its zero lubrication and easy adjustment, it provides a practical and efficient solution.
2. On-board agricultural technology
The most modern planters feature Precision Agriculture systems integrated. It includes sensors that measure the soil depth, seed and fertilizer meter control systems, and the GPS usage to ensure uniform planting in the entire the farm crop fields.
3. Versatility
Choosing versatile planters can be a strategic choice. Some agricultural machines may plant different crop plants, which is an advantage for farms that need more production varieties.
The Stara Princesa planter is recommended for farmers who search for versatility and easy transport. It’s perfect for crops such as soybeans, corn, beans, and cotton. Its technology for seed monitoring avoids planting failures.
In general, the Stara planters, fertilizer spreaders and agricultural sprayers are multifunctional, allowing different types of grain growing.
4. Agricultural machine cost-benefit
When assessing the cost of a planter or agricultural sprayer, take into consideration the investment return at a medium and long term. Planters and sprayers with on-board technology tend to cost more at the beginning. However, they provide higher input savings, higher yield, and agile soybeans planting, compensating for the initial cost in a short term.
For this reason, it’s important to calculate the harvest forecast and search on how to obtain credit to purchase machines and payment conditions for an agricultural loan.
Soybeans stages: understand the different stages
The soybeans cycle, since planting to harvest, may vary depending on weather conditions, management and crop chosen. The ideal season for soybeans planting varies according to the area, but in general, the planting process in Brazil is within October and December, taking advantage of the rains in the spring. Generally, the soybeans cycle may last 90 to 150 days, depending on the weather conditions.
The grain cycle is divided into two great stages: leaf development and emergence. See what each one represents:
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Leaf development
During the leaf development, the plant develops in terms of leaves, stems, and roots. This stage is crucial to determine the crop potential production. In this stage, a self-propelled machine can be useful to ensure an efficient application of chemicals, ensuring the protection of plants against pests and diseases.
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Emergence stages
In the emergence stage, the soybeans start flowering and form pods. Here, it is important to make sure the plants receive the proper nutrients and are free of pests. The Up & Down - Hydraulic Lift System of the Stara sprayers enable applications when the crop plants reach up to three metres when they are in advanced stages.
How do agricultural machines optimize the operations in the crop field?
Thanks to the constant evolution of the agriculture technologies, the current agricultural machines allow the farmer to plant in larger areas fast and avoiding input losses. Check out other benefits:
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Uniform and precise planting
The uniform seed distribution of the seeds is essential to ensure that all crop plants can have the same access to light, water, and the necessary nutrients for each crop type.
Using agricultural technologies such as soil sensors and agricultural controllers as GPS on planters helps to ensure that the seeds are placed in a proper depth and with ideal spacing. The soybeans seeds should be planted in a proper depth to make sure of good germination.
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Less input costs
Using agricultural machines, especially the ones equipped with technologies manufactured in Brazil, help to reduce application costs. Fertilizers and agricultural chemicals, for example, can be applied simultaneously during sowing.
Stara solutions for soybeans planting
Stara provides a complete line of agricultural machines for soybeans, engineered to be sure of agility, precision and planting yield, using the most advanced technologies in agriculture. Get to known some of the main solutions to optimize each planting stage, according to its remarkable features:
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Absoluta Planter
The Absoluta planter provides high capacity of seeds (up to 6,100 kg), robust chassis, and an excellent terrain copy, providing planting uniformity in planting even under adverse conditions.
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Princesa Planter
Princesa planter is known for its versatility and easy transport. Its monitoring technologies ensure planting precision and input savings.
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Cinderela Planter
The Cinderela planter delivers excellent plantability and is perfect for bumpy terrains, ensuring planting uniformity and high yield thanks to systems such as the Row-by-Row Shut-Off System and variable rate.
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Eva planter
Controlled via smartphone and easy maintenance, Eva planter is a practical solution to those who are in search of efficiency and easy usage in a daily basis. The need of maintenance is way more less as it requires zero lubrication.
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Estrela Planter
It stands out due to its high operating yield, planting up to 140 hectares/day. The Estrela planter is perfect for crops fields of farmers who need maximum yield.
Did you like the hints and want to find out the agricultural machine that best suits your crop field?
Stop by a Stara dealer and find the most suitable equipment to boost your soybeans production.
