By Bonnie Coblentz
While profit in farming often comes down to what the weather and markets did that year, the decisions farmers make from the beginning impact the bottom line in many important ways.
Growers use the winter months after harvest and before spring planting to make decisions for their next crops. Justin Calhoun, soybean specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, spoke to growers during that time about some ways to make the best decisions.
For years now, U.S. companies spend billions of dollars developing seeds with traits designed to handle different soil conditions, insect and disease threats, growing season conditions and more. Data on how the seeds performed in field trials, coupled with yield information, is presented so farmers can match their on-farm needs with available seed options.
The Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, or MAFES, is heavily involved in these trials conducted under actual production systems each year at locations both on MSU facilities and in on-farm settings across the state. MSU Extension participates in these trials and holds field days as one way to make the data available to growers.
From data gathered in an on-farm variety demonstration program funded by the Mississippi Soybean Promotion Board, Calhoun gave the statistical odds of guessing the top three seeds, as judged by their performance in scientific variety trials using common methods.
Source : msstate.edu