Soybean variety tests show surprisingly good yields

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Despite a growing season of extremes, soybean in the University of Missouri Variety Testing Program show surprisingly good yields, said MU Extension agronomist Bill Wiebold.

“Yields were really very good,” especially considering more than 1 million acres in Missouri were planted after July 1, Wiebold said.

For 75 years, MU researchers have compared varieties in several locations in each region of the state. Wiebold recommends that farmers look at several locations or years of data when considering varieties.

“Hardly any year is average,” he said. This year was far from average, with heavy precipitation early on that prevented or delayed planting in much of the state.

However, soybean coped by using stored water in the soil and reaping the benefits of large amounts of sunlight and lower-than-average temperatures in August.

Like fields across the state, test varieties differed greatly, Wiebold said. “We go from yields in the 80-bushel range to those not even being harvested,” he said.

In the northern region, with fields in Albany, Canton, Craig, Mooresville and Novelty, the mean yield was 56.7 bushels per acre. Some varieties produced more than 73 bushels per acre.

In the central region, with fields in Annada, Columbia, Grand Pass, Henrietta and Truxton, the mean yield was 53.7 bushels per acre for Maturity Group 3 and 53.2 bushels per acre for Group 4. Annada was abandoned due to heavy and persistent rain that prevented planting.

The mean for Maturity Group 4 was 44.3 bushels per acre in the southwestern region, which had fields in Garden City, Lamar and Urich. Maturity Group 5 mean was 46 bushels per acre.

In the southeastern region, the Maturity Group 5 test had not been harvested as of Dec. 1, and Maturity Group 4 varieties were abandoned in the loam site at Portageville and Morehouse due to poor stands resulting from excessive rainfall. Some Group 5 varieties, however, produced upward of 80 bushels per acre in Portageville loam. The grand mean for Maturity Group 4 was 58 bushels per acre, and Group 5 mean was 57.5 bushels per acre.

For more information and a downloadable copy of the full report, go to http://varietytesting.missouri.edu/soybean.