By Gregory W. Roth
Results from the 2016 Penn State Corn and Soybean Trials have been posted online. Now is a good time to identify some new high yielding genetics that may be available for your operations.
The results of both the corn hybrid and soybean variety trials have been posted online. The corn hybrid report is the summary of 10 test locations across the state of Pennsylvania. These locations are chosen within 4 growing zones. Maturities across these zones range from 98 to 118 days relative maturity. For each zone we report the yields of hybrids at individual locations in one file and then in a second file we report the mean performance across all locations along with the moisture, yield, gross income, plant population and lodged plants. Hybrids are sorted by yield from highest to lowest with those not different than the top hybrid indicated in bold type. Yields in the trials were generally good this year but not exceptional as they were last year.
The total number of entries in our 2016 soybean variety trials is up slightly from last year. Soybean variety tests were conducted in Centre, Blair and Lancaster Counties. At each site a late and early group of soybeans were evaluated. At the Centre and Lancaster site, Non Roundup Ready lines were evaluated in another test. This year most of the non-Roundup Ready lines were Liberty Link Genetics. At our Centre site, conditions were try until August, when they received over 6 inches of precipitation. The soybeans responded well and yields were very respectable. Even the early varieties yielded well under these conditions. At Blair County the early season drought was worse but there was still good recovery. At Lancaster, early season growth was good but conditions turned dry in August and September, which appeared to impact yields in two of the three tests there. The soybean trials were supported in part by funding from the Pennsylvania Soybean Board for which we are grateful.
When selecting varieties from our trials, be sure to check with you seed supplier to ensure that the hybrid or variety is suited to your conditions. There could be times when a top yielding entry may lack important characteristics for your situation.