1969 Missouri grain sorghum performance trials
Abstract
"Locations. Grain sorghum performance trials were conducted at four locations in 1969, Fig. 1. They were located at the North Missouri Center near Spickard in Grundy County, on the Earl Page farm near Palmyra in Marion County, on the N. G. Weir farm near Columbia in Boone County, and at the Southwest Center near Mt. Vernon in Lawrence County. A fifth location was planted at the Delta Center near Portageville in Pemiscot County but was not harvested due to hail and bird damage. The test site at the Southwest Center was located on a Gerald soil. This soil is characterized by very slow permeability to water and air, nearly level topography, moderate water storage capacity, a claypan subsoil, medium inherent fertility, and a tendency to be slighty doughty during summer months. These characteristics coupled with a May 1 to September 15 rainfall deficit of 6 to 8 inches resulted in greatly reduced yields (Table 9). The variation, due to soil, at this site was accentuated by the drought. Thus relatively large difference in yield among entries were required for statistical significance. State production. In 1968, 216,000 acres of grain sorghum were harvested in Missouri with an average yield of 66 bushels per acre. The 1969 estimate of harvested grain sorghum is 214,000 acres and 91. 1 percent of the 1960-1969 average. The state-wide 1969 estimate of 64 bushels per acre is 9. 7 bushels more than the 10-year average and six bushels less than the 1969 estimated corn yield. These data are summarized in Table 1. Sorghum vs corn. Comparisons between the yield of corn and grain sorghum at three of the testing sites can be made since these tests were located either in the same field or close proximity (Table 2). These comparisons are only suggestive; planting and cultural factors were not the same for corn and sorghum. Interpretation of differences in yield. Small yield differences should not be overemphasized since there was considerable inherent variation in the soil at each test site. Special planting arrangements and use of the statistical procedure called analysis of variance, from which the L. S. D. (least significant difference) value is computed, help make valid yield comparisons. The L. S. D. value, found at the bottom of the tables, simply states how much one hybrid must differ from another in yield to be reasonably confident of superior performance."--Introduction.
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