WINGATE, Ind. — A field test of soybean hybrids by Farmers’ Independent Research of Seed Technologies (FIRST) resulted in a field with five brands producing at least 70 bushels per acre.
The central Indiana test showed Stine variety 30RE02 slightly edging out the competition with 71.3 bushels per acre and $696 in gross income per acre, on Steve and Matt Stine’s Montgomery County farm in Wingate.
With less than 0.7 bushel separating them, the following all yielded from 70.7 to 70 bushels per acre, in descending order: Armor 32-R72, Steyer 3205R2, Seed Consultants SCS 9328RR and Seed Consultants SCS 9345RR.
Second-place Armor earned $691 in gross income, and Steyer’s third-place seed garnered $689. The two Seed Consultants hybrids brought $686 and $685, respectively.
The test average for 63 hybrids was 63.3 bushels per acre with $618 in gross income. FIRST Test Manager Rich Schleuning was surprised with the test average of 5 percent lodging.
"For height being from 36 to 44 inches tall, lodging was light for such a tall crop," he said.
The previous crop was corn on a silty clay loam, well-drained and non-irrigated. The soil conditions were listed as high phosphorus and high potassium with no-till. The field was seeded on May 22 and harvested Oct. 25.
"Node spacing was 3 to 4 inches apart. A light infestation of light white mold was noticed on the tops of plants. Some insect feeding was also observed," Schleuning reported.
He added the seed count was from 0-3 beans per pod, with most of the empty pods located at the bottoms and top of stems.
One replication was discarded because of ponding.
Additional reports are available at www.firstseedtests.com
