Focus is on Southeast Nebraska
By Diego Flammini, Farms.com
As Old Man Winter slowly starts to loosen his icy grip on most of Canada and parts of the United States, farmers will begin planting test plots to see what seed varieties will respond to their soil conditions and begin to make the proper adjustments to make their farm operations more prosperous and efficient.
For those who are lucky enough to live in southern areas where the weather is a little more favourable, test plots have already been planted.
Every farmer who decides to do plots on their farms will have different results, so this piece will focus on parts of Southeast Nebraska and their test plots for corn, soybeans and wheat based on information from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
When it comes to rainfed corn in Nebraska’s Butler County, a hybrid of Phillips Seed performed the best. The PSF 121 Vt2ProRIB hybrid produced approximately 243 bushels per acre with a weight of around 58lbs per bushel.
Midland’s 594PR DG and 534PRW round out the top three performers with 241 and 233 bushels/acre respectively.
Rainfed soybeans in Lancaster County saw the most yield out of Stine seeds, variety 31LE32. The yield was around 60 bushels/acre with each bushel weighing about 55lbs and an average of a 29-inch plant height.
Bayer’s BX 3945 LL and BX 3539 LL both produced 58 bushels/acre. The 3945 variety had a heavier bushel weight and higher plant height.
Keeping in Lancaster County, Limagrain Cereal Seeds performed the best in rainfed wheat test plots. Their T158 seed produced about 86 bushels/acre at 61lbs/bushel and a 31-inch plant height.
Syngenta’s AgriPro SY Wolf variety also produced 86 bushels/acre. Their bushels weighed 62lbs each and a 29-inch plant height. Limagrain’s LCS Mint saw 85 bushels/acre with 62lbs/bushel and a 31-inch plant height.
Join the discussion and tell us if you’ve planted or received any test plot information. What did you plant? What varieties did you use? What were the findings of other plots?