[Crops 101] Soybeans - How to sow and harvest

This tutorial is all about soybeans - we show you how you plant and harvest this plant.

What You Need To Know About Soybeans

• Feed you soybeans to your pigs
• Soybeans can be planted from April until May
• They are read for harvest from the start of October until the end of November

What You Need For Soybeans

This chapter dives into equipment requirements; you can jump ahead if you’re mainly here for the soybean cultivation process.

• You need a tractor with front loader attachment to operate tools and transport resources.
• You need a pallet fork to transport your resources.
• You need a cultivator to prepare your field for planting.
• You need a planter and seeds. 
• You need a fertilizer spreader, fertilizer, and lime. These things are optional, as they are only needed to increase your harvest. 
• You need a weeder to prevent weed from growing and spoiling your harvest.
• You need a combine harvester with a fitting grain header to harvest your canola.
• You need a trailer to transport your harvest.
• You need a special trailer to transport your grain header.

How To Harvest Soybeans

If tool handling proves difficult, here’s some support that might help:

How To Operate Your Machinery

The same procedure applies to your combine and its compatible header.

1. Align your vehicle: Drive your vehicle next to the tool you want to use. Press the designated button to connect. 
2. If necessary, fill your machine with the required resource (seeds, fertilizer): Place the machine you want to fill next to the required resource and press the designated button to refill.
3. Drive to your field and use the machine: Just unfold the machine or vehicle, lower it (if needed) and you are ready to go!

7 Steps: How to plant soybeans

With this step-by-step guide, your harvest of soybeans is safe:

1. Applying Lime: Fill lime into your fertilizer spreader and cover your field.
2. Cultivate your field: Switch to your cultivator and prepare your field for planting.
3. Plant your soybeans: Prepare your planter and commence planting soybeans.
4. Fertilizing: Maximize your crop yield by fertilizing twice during two distinct growth phases of your plants.
5. Weeding: Get rid of weeds as soon as they show up. They mess with your yield and get tougher to kill the longer you wait. Early on, a weeder works just fine. Later, you’ll need a hoe or sprayer to deal with them.
6. Harvest: The fun part starts now: take a seat in your combine harvester and start harvesting soybeans. As streets are often narrow and crowded, we recommend transporting the header on a trailer. 
7. Selling or keeping soybeans: With your trailer full of soybeans, you need to decide: Sell it at a selling point, or feed it to your pigs? The choice is yours to make.

That’s It!

Take care of your machinery and don't forget to clean them sometimes. Head back to the Academy for more tutorials.