HOWE, Ind. — Drought and late-season storms reduced yields in John Larimer’s farm’s soybean field test plot this fall.

Larimer’s LaGrange County farm was one host for Farmer’s Independent Research of Seed Technologies’ (F.I.R.S.T.) soybean yield tests this season. The test average yield on his property was 50 bushels per acre, with an average gross income of $770 per acre.

“(The plants had) poor emergence, as beans lay in dry soil too long after planting,” said F.I.R.S.T. Site Manager Rich Schleuning. “I noted good plant health, as the crop elongated up to 54 inches tall.”

With tall plants and late-season storms, however, come lodging and yield loss. The test plot had an average of 14 percent lodging, with the overall range from 6 up to 23 percent.

“(Lodging) basically makes it a lot more difficult to harvest. If the beans are too dry, you get a lot of shatter effect (pods breaking open and beans lost on the ground),” Schleuning explained.

The top 10 yielding varieties ranged from 53.7 to 58.2 bushels per acre. Channel and Specialty each had two top-10 finishers.

Stine variety 29RD22 was the top hybrid, one of eight United Soybean Board entries in the top 30. Its yield was 58.2 bushels per acre, with a moisture content of 17.6 percent. The estimated gross income for this variety was $897 per acre, with 14 percent lodging.

The second-place variety was Steyer 3104R2, with a yield of 57.5 bushels per acre. This variety’s estimated gross income was $886 per acre, with a moisture level of 17.9 percent. Schleuning estimated this variety had 20 percent lodging.

Dairyland DSR-3216R2Y came in third, with a yield of 56.7 bushels per acre, 17.7 percent moisture and $874 income per acre. This variety had about 16 percent lodging.

The average test plot moisture level was 17.5 percent.

Schleuning planted at a rate of 170,000 seeds per acre on May 11 and harvested 108,900 plants per acre on Oct. 25. The beans followed corn, with glyphosate previously applied. Glyphosate was used again on this test plot, with a total of 48 varieties tested.

For a complete list of all brands and a searchable database of information, visit www.firstseedtests.com