By TESA NAUMAN
Tennessee Correspondent

OTTERBEIN, Ind. — Stewart had the top two spots in a test of soybean seeds recently, at the Benton County farm of Steve Gick.
Out of the top dozen entries, Channel’s entries came in at the number 3 and 4 spots; Diener came in fifth; Ebberts had entries come in at the 6, 7 and 9 spots; and Stewart also took eighth place and 10th. Diener and Ebberts closed out the top 12 with seeds ranking in 11th and 12th places, respectively.

Stewart’s brand of seed had the largest yield, with number-one Stewart 3300R2 producing 86.1 bushes per acre and a gross income of $935.20 per acre. Stewart’s 3400R2 variety came in second place, producing 83.7 bushels per acre and an estimated $908.80.

Moisture content per acre was approximately 10 percent for the top two Stewart brands.

The average yield of bushels per acre for all the seeds tested was 75.6. The moisture content average for all seeds tested was 10.6 percent and the estimated gross income per acre was $820.40.
The test was conducted by Farmer’s Independent Research of Seed Technologies (F.I.R.S.T.). F.I.R.S.T. Manager Rich Schleuning planted the field on May 11 at a seeded rate of 185,000 per acre.
He used Roundup and Headline on the non-irrigated, well-drained, no-till field comprised of Darroch silt loam. On Oct. 7, he harvested at a rate of 164,600 plants per acre.

Schleuning, who used fungicide in the test, expressed surprise at how many beans made it to harvest, considering their size.
“Soybeans had tremendous vegetative growth at this location, as bean height ranged from 40 to 60 inches. All products were standing very well at harvest, surprising for being so tall,” he reported. “Some varieties had five to seven pods per node, each containing three beans each.”

Channel 3701R2, which came in third place, had a yield per-acre of 82.2 bushels; 10 percent moisture content; and an estimated gross income per acre of $892.70.

Fourth-place Channel 4101R2 had a yield of 82 bushels per acre, with an 11.2 moisture content rating and an estimated gross income of $888.60 per acre.