Changes in technology and higher seed costs have shifted the way farmers plant soybeans in the United States. Between 1997 and 2018, soybean seeding rates – the number of seeds planted per acre – declined by 22 percent on America’s farms.
In 1997, farmers planted an average of more than 200,000 soybean seeds per acre. The seeding rates fell to 192,000 in 2002 and eventually to 157,000 in 2018. The decline in seeding rates was accompanied by an increase in row widths or the distance between planting rows. From 1997 to 2002, the average U.S. soybean row width dropped from 17 to 16 inches. Widths suddenly increased to 18 inches in 2006 and then to 20 inches in 2012.
They’re currently estimated at 20 inches as of 2018. Costs of seed on a per-acre basis increased, creating incentives for farmers to plant fewer seeds. Soybean yields increased by 20 percent from 2002-2018.
