Check out this short video on common soybean germination and emergence issues created by Dr. Shawn Conley. This is particularly useful in light of recent hail damage.
In a few minutes, Dr. Conley discusses issues arising from planting depth, soil compaction, frost and more.
Since the video is a few years old, he also explains a manual method for counting your plant stand.
Of course, you can also get a highly accurate count with the free Bean cam, available for iPhones and iPads and Android devices.