By DAVE BLOWER JR.
Farm World Editor

CLAYTON, Ill. – Average yields were in the mid-50s for a soybean seed test in South-central Illinois this fall.

The site was plagued by poor weather during planting. Dairyland Seed hybrid DSR-3636R2Y won the test with an average yield of 68 bushels per acre. That was more than 10 bushels per acre better than the average yield (57.4 bu.) per acre for all of the varieties at this test site.

The test was conducted by Farmer’s Independent Research of Seed Technologies (F.I.R.S.T.) on Adams County, Ill. farm of Terry Smith.

F.I.R.S.T. manager Eric Beyers planted the field on May 30 at 140,000 seeds per acre.

“We planted in twin rows spaced 8 inches apart on 30-inch centers,” Beyers said.

He harvested approximately 117,200 plants per acre on Nov. 7.
“Poor soil conditions during planting plus persistent rains after planting reduced stands or delayed plant growth,” Beyers reported. “One rep was lost due to these conditions. The site had poor grain quality partly due to lodged plants lying on wet soil.”

The Smith farm has Cowden silty clay loam soil. The field is moderately poor drained and non-irrigated. The pest management plan included Canopy XL, Prowl and Touchdown.

The previous crop on the field was corn treated with Lumax and Atrazine.

Other top-finishing hybrids in this test were Asgrow AG3705 at 66.3 bu. per acre and Campbell 3500MAX at 65 bu. per acre. There were 54 hybrids tested at this location.

A list of all the hybrids in this test is available at www.firstseedtests.com