2014 Crop Performance Test Results Available

Winter is the time for in-depth planning and preparation for South Dakota's crop producers. "Taking time to plan various aspects of crop production; including variety selection, will pay dividend at the end of the season," said David Karki, SDSU Extension Agronomy Field Specialist.

Karki added that growers are inundated with options when deciding which cultivar or variety of crop/s to plant for the next growing season. To help them with the decision making process, SDSU Crop Performance Testing conducts variety trials each season.

"When selecting varieties for the upcoming growing season, it is essential to understand the yield potential of different options available in the market," he said. "Different prices between seed bags may not represent the actual yield difference that can be observed at the end of the season."

Karki shared an example: There could be a $10 dollar difference between two bags of soybean seeds however, the yield difference of those two varieties could be five bushels per acre. "Furthermore, some varieties do well over larger areas while others may only exhibit desired performance in narrower areas," he said.

SDSU Crop Performance Testing program tests varieties developed by not only the SDSU Agricultural Experiment Station, but also different private seed entrepreneurs.

Results from the trials are published annually following harvest of respective crops. In addition to yield, these results also provide other agronomic traits for all major crops grown in South Dakota.

Trial results from the 2014 growing season can be found on the iGrow agronomy community webpage.

"This website can serve as a very effective tool while selecting crop variety for next season. For additional information on trial results please contact person listed on the first page of each trial result," he said.

Source:igrow.org