Soybean variety selection (1993)

Abstract

One of the most perplexing production decisions a farmer faces is, 'What variety should I plant?' Information on soybean varieties is received from mass media advertising, friends or relatives, seed dealers, University and extension variety trials, and perhaps from your own strip trials. New varieties from public and private organizations are abundant. Yields are increasing about one-third of a bushel per acre per year due to genetic improvement. While some new varieties show this response, other new varieties may not yield better than those now used. Given all this information and the new influx of varieties, how do you choose the best variety to grow? No one has yet developed a simple answer to this question, but it is the intent of this publication to present guidelines for choosing a variety for a given set of conditions.