By Darren Hefty
Yes, yes, yields were not fantastic for everyone this year. We averaged mid-50’s on our farm instead of mid-60’s like last year. Certainly there were areas that saw record yields, as well, but overall yields were off due to late planting, a wet spring, a very dry late summer, and an early frost. That was all chaos designed to throw you off what it really takes to achieve long-term success on your farm and pick the best soybean varieties. To learn more, read on.
Yield trials this year were very interesting to study. For first-year seed sellers and those who only rely on yield data to make their decisions, good luck!
Here are some examples of this year’s data:
Algona, IA – Last year, Hefty Brand 23Y10 won the F.I.R.S.T. Trial at this location. This year, it still placed in the top 25% (18th out of 72 entries). At first glance you may think that this variety had slipped in performance. Taking the early frost and the standard deviation into account, I wouldn’t change my recommendation’s. Plant 23Y10 here.
Glencoe, MN – The F.I.R.S.T. Trial at this location didn’t get planted till June 2nd, which put it behind the 8-ball for later maturing beans to make it. Then the early frost came in September and a 0.8 maturity soybean won a trial that was supposed to be for 1.3 to 2.0 maturity beans. This was definitely an anomaly.
Baltic, SD – On our farm, the early frost hit grass-green beans on a few of our fields. Our best variety from last year had great pod counts again, but the seed size on the top pods after the frost was as much as 1000 seeds per pound smaller than it was on the lowest pods. Don’t feel too sorry for us, though, because the field average was still above 50 bushels per acre.
Here are my biggest take-away’s from this fall:
- Plant a range of maturities that are right for your area. Typically we’d recommend 10 to 25% to full season maturities, 50 to 70 percent to average maturities, and 10 to 25% to earlier maturities.
- Be flexible and switch varieties when you plant late. If you were planting in June, you could still justify planting some of your acres to later maturities, but don’t get carried away.
- Newer varieties and new traits win almost all the time. Look at the University data, private industry data, and independent data, and you’ll see a trend. The new Liberty Link trait is very good and has high yields even in the tough ground. The new Roundup Ready 2 Yield trait won almost every yield trial I saw compared to Roundup Ready 1 competitors.
- Early frost threw off yield results this year. Yes, it can happen again, but it’s probably only going to happen once or twice every 10 years, and if soybean planting is done on time next year, that also cuts down the odds of an early frost hurting yield.
If you want more yield data, go to www.heftyseed.com, but again, don’t base all your judgments for 2012 on 2011 yield results.