As soybeans emerge, take time to evaluate soybean stands. This involves taking stand counts and visually assessing seedlings to see if growth and development appear normal. This can help alert us to potential issues that may due to planting, insects, diseases, and/or environmental.
Stand counts in soybeans are very similar to stand counts in corn. Soybean stand is not as critically linked to yield as with corn; however, early-season stand counts are important to evaluate the germination and emergence of the planted soybeans. Several helpful methods are available to estimate soybean stand. The traditional method is identical to the method most commonly used for corn; however, because soybean populations are much higher than corn, soybean stand counts are often taken using an alternative approach with estimates based on soybeans per foot or using a hula-hoop method to reduce the number of soybeans being counted.
Whichever method is used to obtain an estimate of plant stands, repeat the process several times throughout the field to provide a more complete picture of the average plant population, as well as identifying good and bad areas of the field. Do not intentionally avoid areas with missing plants, but if one stand count seems unusually low or different than other counts, keep that one separate and make note of it. Emerged plant populations are often 10-20% lower than the original seeding rate. With early-season soybean planting, a final stand of 100,000 evenly spaced plants is a desired goal, but soybeans have a significant ability to branch and yield well even in thinner stands. Additionally, while taking stand counts, be looking at emergence uniformity (differences in crop stages), plant spacing, and seedling vigor.
Source : iastate.edu