Hail… Unifoliate Stage Soybeans… Re-Seeding??

By: Wendy McDonald – MPSG Production Agronomist – West

Hail south of Ste. Rose on June 2, 2026. Photo credit: farmer provided

At the unifoliate stage (VC), the soybean plant will have two distinct nodes on its main stem above the soil level.

Node 0 (Cotyledonary Node): Located at the very base of the stem, this is where the seed’s cotyledons first emerged and left two opposite scars.

Node 1 (Unifoliate Node): Positioned just above the cotyledon scars, this is where the two unifoliate leaves are attached opposite one another.

If the plant still has at least one node that the soybean plant can regrow from, they should recover.

damaged soybeans — On June 5, 2026 these soybeans in a field south of Ste Rose all show damage to stem below the cotyledons, and are not likely to recover.. Photo credit: Wendy McDonald

soybean regrowth following hail — This was only three days after the hail event, so in theory, we should wait a few more days (up to a week after) to reassess the regrowth (but it was already June 5). We can see slight regrowth from the node above cotyledon on two of these four soybean stems. Photo credit: Wendy McDonald

Badly damaged soybean stems from hail — Badly damaged soybean stems that have not improved since the hail. Photo credit: Wendy McDonald

Soybean plants with just some cotyledon damage will recover and regrow from the node in the cotyledon. Photo credit: Wendy McDonald

This plant remnant found on the ground, the plant is broken off below the cotyledons, which indicates the stem it left behind will not regrow. Photo credit: Wendy McDonald

This plant remnant found on the ground, the plant is broken off below the cotyledons, which indicates the stem it left behind will not regrow. Photo credit: Wendy McDonald

Hail damaged soybeans, that were at the hook stage, these will not recover. Photo credit: Wendy McDonald

Four possible viable plants, that could recover, per hula hoop is not enough to make a decent crop. Photo credit: Wendy McDonald

Before the hail you could see rows of soybeans, and when we dug underneath the surface, we hardly found any soybeans left to emerge. So in this row one or two “maybes” (to regrow from their node) and some “definitely nots”. Video credit: Wendy McDonald

two plants side by side — An example of two plants above and below, one with no damage. Photo credit: Wendy McDonald

Three soybeans side by side — These soybeans won’t be “making it”. Photo credit: Wendy McDonald

How Did We Make the Decision to Re-seed ?

We (farmers, retail agronomist, and the MPSG agronomist) spent time on our hands and knees, with the hula hoop, and a trowel, counting and digging, and calculating how many plants per acre were likely to recover and regrow.

Unfortunately, that number averaged below four plants per hula hoop, which is approximately only 40,000 plants per acre.

Ideal soybean plant stands are closer to 16 per hula hoop, and at 10 per hula hoop you can still maintain yield potential. We may encourage you to keep your original stand, even if counts average as low as eight plants per hula hoop. Four soybean plants per hula hoop, that is just too low.

We considered other factors too.

This field is in Crop Insurance Soybean Area 3, and the crop insurance extended coverage deadline is June 5 to 9. The farmer would have five days to reseed, and one of the two fields investigated would be dry enough to seed into that afternoon.

The retail had enough soybean seed on hand and the farmer could pick it up that day.

The variety had a reasonable (not too long) heat unit rating.

The farmer had experience with soybeans being successful when seeded in June.

The farmer understood that the yield potential would have to be adjusted down by 15 per cent (or more) due to the later seeding date.

The seed company had a re-seed policy which would cover off some re-seeding costs.

The weather and soil was warm with available moisture, suggesting the soybean seed should germinate well and that plants should pop out of the ground quickly (about a week) and then, corner to corner, the field would have a even and adequate plant stand.

By only keeping the plants we could see, the recovering original plants may take longer to mature, be more branchy, and the field could have large gaps where weeds may take over through out the season.

The damage was substantial and we had the option and calendar time to reseed.

The decision was made to re-seed.