Early Beans in The Blacklands
Near the North Carolina coast, growers get top yields and early harvest with Southern States Group III and IV soybean seed.

Wade Hubers farms the flatlands by North Carolina's vast Pamlico Sound. Thousands of years of tidal action have created a rich, organic soil called the blacklands. This soil is so rich in humus that, according to Hubers, it will burn.

In the past five or six years, Hubers' yields have grown bigger and harvest has come earlier. He credits early maturing soybean seed varieties he purchases from the Southern States store at the scenic, waterfront town of Belhaven for the improvement.

"A few years back I encouraged Wade to try some Group III and IV seed that is usually planted farther north," explains Gardner Smith, Southern States field sales associate.

North Carolina grower Wade Hubers (right) harvested 60-bushel soybeans growing early-season varieties recommended by Gardner Smith, Southern States field sales associate.

The result: "I can start harvesting in early September and get ahead of the typical price drop that comes when Midwest [growers] begin harvesting," notes Hubers. By Oct. 1 of this year, his Group III and IV beans were in the bin.

The successful Southern States Group III and IV beans he planted were SS 381 STS and RT 4098.

And what about yields for the early maturing varieties? "I've got a 200-acre block that yielded 61 bushels per acre," he says.

The early varieties aren't for all soils in eastern North Carolina, however. Hubers plants later varieties on some of his heavier soils that frost earlier. "I now plant about 75% of my beans in Group III and IV, but 25% of my fields work best with Group V [varieties]."

Gardner works closely with customers to ensure the right match for each soil type found on their farms.

Since he first advocated the early varieties in the late 1990s, he has seen a rapid growth in farmer interest in his four-county region. "This past year I sold around 8,000 bags of Group III and IV [soybeans], and I believe I'll be selling more in the future," he says.

"Everyone wants a good price when they buy seed," he adds. "But it is the performance that really sells the product."

By October, Hubers had shut down his combine long enough to order next year's supply from Gardner. "Nothing stands up like these Southern States early variety soybeans," says Hubers.