On a mechanized farm what implement is attached to a farm tractor to harvest a field of soy bean or would a farmer use a combine? As a rule of thumb how much tonnage of soy beans could a farmer expect to harvest (assuming a healthy crop) from an acre of soy beans?
Thank you.
They are harvested with a self-propelled combine. Here is a picture of a one-unit combine:
http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/fieldday/kids/pictures/kidsfield600/cg_soybean_combine.jpg
And a video of such:
http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=harvesting+soybeans&emb=0#
There is also the type that attaches to a regular tractor, but I could not find a picture for that one. That is they type of combine that my uncle has on his cash crop farm.
In our part of the Midwest, we get 40 bushels per acre, which is about a metric ton per acre.