Help available for April soybean plantings
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Soybean growers looking ahead to their 2013 crop now have help in deciding which of the dozens of varieties might work best when planted early and in the conditions particular to their farms.
“Each year, numerous soybean varieties are commercially available to growers in Arkansas,” said Jeremy Ross, extension soybean agronomist for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture. “However, only a limited number of soybean varieties have been tested in Arkansas at April plantings.”
“Yield performance in April plantings varies according to location, adaptability to soils, relative maturity, lodging, shattering potential, disease and nematode resistance, as well as herbicide and chloride sensitivity,” he said.
Early planting was a key factor in 2012’s record 43-bushel per acre statewide average yield, Ross said. In 2012, about 60 percent of the state’s soybean crop was planted by May 1. Typically, only 25 percent is planted by May 1.
To help growers compare the varieties’ qualities, Ross has “Soybean Updates” available online with charts containing two years’ worth of performance data for early planting from the 2011 and 2012 University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture soybean variety testing program. They are:
- 2012 Soybean Performance Results for Early Planted RoundUp Ready Production Systems in Arkansas (Two-Year Averages) http://bit.ly/UWPhDF
- 2012 Soybean Performance Results for Full-Season & Double-Crop Roundup Ready Production Systems in Arkansas (Two-Year Averages) http://bit.ly/14aVkbD
- 2012 Soybean Performance Results for Full-Season & Double-Crop Conventional and LibertyLink Production Systems in Arkansas (Two-Year Averages) http://bit.ly/10yH2hq
To learn more about crop production, contact your county extension office, or visit http://www.uaex.edu/, arkansascrops.com.
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