By DAVE BLOWER JR.
Farm World Editor

WINDFALL, Ind. — Soybean yields hovered in the high 60s for a hybrid test site in central Indiana this year.

The Tipton County, Ind. farm of Steve Pierce produced an average yield of 69.4 bushels per acre for the 35 soybean hybrids tested at the site. The average moisture content was 14.6 percent, and the estimated gross income per acre was $659.80.

The test was conducted by Farmer’s Independent Research of Seed Technologies (F.I.R.S.T.) earlier this harvest season. The soil was a Brookston silty clay loam. The field was non-irrigated and well drained.

The previous crop on this field was corn treated with Balance and Keystone. The no-till field was treated with Canopy and Roundup this year.

F.I.R.S.T. manager Rich Schleuning planted the field on May 30 at an estimated rate of 180,000 seeds per acre. He used 15-inch row spacing.

He harvested 191,200 plants on Nov. 5 at this site.
“You see a higher final population due to a faster planting speed,” Schleuning explained.

He said the trial site performed well, considering the challenging growing conditions.

“There was no lodging, which made for a nice harvest,” Schleuning reported. “The plot area was fortunate to not have white mold.”
NK Brand S39-A3 was the winner of the test with an average yield of 75.7 bu. per acre. That was more than two bushels per acre then any other hybrid at this farm. The hybrid had a moisture content of 14.6 percent, and it produced an estimated gross income per acre of $719.20.

Ebberts Seed took two of the top five spots. Ebberts RR2360 was second with an average yield of 73.2 percent. This hybrid had a moisture content of 14.5 percent. Finishing fifth was Ebberts RR2350 at 72.3 bu. per acre. Its moisture content was at 15.1 percent.

Other high-scoring hybrids in this trial were: Beck’s Hybrids XL-362NR, 72.8 bu. per acre with a moisture content of 14.7 percent; and iCorn.com 3.970R2, 72.6 bu. per acre with a moisture content of 14.4 percent.

There were 35 hybrids tested at this location.
A list of all the hybrids in this test is available at www.firstseedtests.com