FIRST soybean tests show strong yields

Yield reports are in from fields across the Midwest and impacts of the ongoing drought are proving to be less than expected.

This year’s Farmers’ Independent Research of Seed Technologies (FIRST) soybean yield results showed strong production overall despite some tough conditions.

Iowa saw wide variability in soybean yields across the state. In the northernmost sites, yields ranged from 37.6 bushels per acre in Iowa Falls to 67.7 in Hull. The 37.6 bu./acre figure was an outlier, with only one of the other six sites, Osage, posting a sub-50 average yield.

The variability is illustrated comparing Iowa Falls’ low yield to nearby Ventura, which averaged 63.4 bushels per acre. Both those sites are in the north central region, roughly 56 miles from each other.

In the southern portion of Iowa, yields were exceptional. In the FIRST sites managed by Randy Meinsma, yields ranged from 60.7 in Central City to 80.3 in Washington. Cambria, in south central Iowa, posted an average 72.3 bu./acre, while the westernmost site in Oakland reached an average of 70.1.