ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Sincere thanks is given to the many cooperators and contributors who have made the Soybean Variety Evaluation Tests possible.

The cooperation and support offered by commercial seed companies, state crop improvement associations, and several experiment stations in supplying seed and information on varieties is gratefully acknowledged.

Special thanks is given to the following cooperators for supplying land and technical assistance while conducting these tests:

C. L. Barrack, Eastern Virginia Agricultural Research and Extension Center, Warsaw,
D. Dixon, Northern Piedmont Agricultural Research and Extension Center, Orange,
W. B. Wilkinson, III, Southern Piedmont Agricultural Research and Extension Center, Blackstone,
G. R. Buss, Department of Crop and Soil Environmental Sciences, VPI & SU, Blacksburg,
J. T. Custis and D. V. Midkiff, Eastern Shore Agricultural Research and Extension Center, Painter,
R. A. Ashburn, Tidewater Agricultural Research and Extension Center, Suffolk



A special note of appreciation is also extended to the Unit Extension Faculty who do an excellent job of disseminating the information.

The authors would also like to express appreciation to Patsy Lewis, Patty Turner, and Teresa Vaughan for their technical and secretarial assistance. We are also very appreciative to Donna Thomas and the support staff at the USDA Analytical Chemistry Support Unit at Peoria, Illinois for their assistance in determining percent protein and oil. Their assistance in the collection of data and preparation of this report is gratefully acknowledged.

Financial assistance from the Virginia Soybean Board to help fund a portion of these tests is gratefully acknowledged.

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INTRODUCTION TO VARIETY TESTS

The purpose of this publication is to provide performance data of the many soybean varieties offered for sale in Virginia. These data should be of benefit to producers and agribusinesses in making selections of varieties for their use. It is realized that not all varieties which are offered for sale in Virginia are included in these tests. There is no implication that varieties not included are inferior in any way, but only that they have not been tested. The private varieties that have been evaluated in these tests were submitted for testing by commercial seed companies.

Variety evaluations were conducted under full season conditions at Suffolk, Warsaw, Orange, Blackstone, and Painter. Double-crop tests were no-till planted at Suffolk, Warsaw, and Painter. Due to the number of entries, it was necessary to separate the varieties by maturity groups in all locations.

The average rainfall as shown on page 6 was considerably higher than normal at all locations. This was as much as 14-15" more than average for the months of May through October. The heavy rains continued into late fall, delaying harvesting in many instances.

INTERPRETING THE RESULTS

Tables 1 through 8 contain the results of the 1996 tests and also include two-year mean yields at each location. The highest yielding varieties are listed first in each table. It is not statistically correct to compare varieties from different maturity groups. However, it is recommended that producers select two to three of the highest yielding varieties from each maturity group adapted to his region in order to spread out harvesting time and yield risks associated with timing of summer rainfall patterns. Because of year to year variability in variety performance it is suggested that data for varieties with less than three locations or years testing be considered preliminary. The average performance of a variety over multiple environments is more reliable than its performance in one test. Many of the new varieties, which do not have two-year averages, are excellent and will probably earn a share of the Virginia soybean acreage. Other traits are also shown in the tables (maturity, lodging, height, quality, protein, and oil) because each producer emphasizes certain of these traits or a combination of them when selecting varieties for his farm. After examining these results, the producer may want to plant limited quantities of several new better performing varieties to observe how they perform on his farm and under his management conditions.

Within maturity groups at each location, an LSD (least significant difference) was calculated. The LSD is a statistical test calculated at the 20% probability level to aid the reader in comparing the yield differences among varieties within a particular maturity group. When two entries are compared and the difference between them is greater than the calculated LSD value, the varieties are considered to be significantly different. The "NS" designation indicates that there were no significant differences for yield among the varieties within that maturity group. The coefficient of variation (CV) is a relative measure of variation and is an indicator of the degree of precision associated with the test. For soybean variety evaluation tests, CV values less than 15% indicates that the precision of the test was good in distinguishing differences between varieties.

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METHODS AND DEFINITIONS

All tests were evaluated in a randomized complete block experimental design and replicated three times. Row widths, number of rows planted and harvested, and length of row harvested are shown on the production information page. Harvest was as near the date of first harvest maturity as work schedules and weather would permit. Fertilizer was applied according to VPI & SU soil test recommendations.

All locations had the above seeding rates, except for Orange and Warsaw Full Season Tests, which were sown at 160,000 seeds per acre.

Maturity Group 4S is a designation for varieties which are late maturing (or southern) in maturity group 4.

Yields were taken and adjusted to 13% moisture. A bushel weight of 60 pounds was used to determine bushel-per-acre (BU/AC) yield.

Maturity (MAT in DAYS) was taken at the date when 95% of the pods turned brown.

Lodging (LOD) notes are recorded on a scale of 1 to 5 according to the following criteria:

1.0 - almost all plants erect

2.0 - either all plants leaning slightly, or a few plants down

3.0 - either all plants leaning moderately (45^o angle), or 25 to 50% down

4.0 - either all plants leaning considerably, or 50 to 80% down

5.0 - all plants down

Plant Height (HT) is determined as the average length of plants in a plot from the ground to the uppermost node of the plant at maturity.

Seed Quality (SQ) is rated from 1 to 5 according to the following scale:

1.0 = very good; 2.0 = good; 3.0 = fair; 4.0 = poor; 5.0 = very poor.

Protein (PROT) and Oil percentage of harvested seed were calculated using a Pacific-Scientific NIR grain analyzer and were reported on a dry weight basis. The calculations were made by the USDA Analytical Chemistry Support Unit in Peoria, Illinois. In maturity groups IV and V, average protein and oil contents were determined from seed harvested at Painter, Suffolk, and Warsaw; for maturity group VI, protein and oil contents were determined from seed harvested at Painter and Suffolk.

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PRODUCTION INFORMATION

Location	Planting Date	Herbicides	Insecticides	Soil Type	Row Width	Number of Rows		Length of Row Harvested
						Planted	Harvested
Blackstone-FS*	May 23	Dual II, Fusilade	None	Chesterfield-Mayodan-Bourne	20"	4	2	14’
Orange-FS	June 4, 5, 6	Dual, Poast Plus, Reflex	None	Starr Silty Clay Loam	30"	3	1	20’
Painter-FS	June 18	Dual, Sencor	None	Bojac SL	20"	4	2	14’
Painter-DC	July 10	Gramoxone, Lorox, Dual, Command	None	Bojac SL	20"	4	2	14’
Suffolk-FS	May 20	Lasso, Sencor	None	Lunchburg Fine Sandy Loam	20"	4	2	14’
Suffolk-DC	July 11	Bronco, Storm, Basagran, Roundup, Poast Plus	None	Lynchburg Fine Sandy Loam	20"	4	2	14’
Warsaw-FS	June 4, 7	Dual, Reflex, Fusilade, Treflan	None	Kempsville Loam	30"	4	2	12’
Warsaw-DC	June 27	Dual, Roundup, Sceptor	None	Kempsville Loam	24"	4	2	12’

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*FS = Full-Season, DC = Double-crop

MONTHLY PRECIPITATION (INCHES) AND AVERAGE RAINFALL

DURING MAY THROUGH OCTOBER

AT VARIETY TEST LOCATIONS.

 

Location		May	June	July	Aug.	Sept.	Oct.	Total
Blackstone	1996 30-yr Avg.	3.88 3.42	2.74 3.67	5.96 5.49	5.66 4.02	11.50 3.57	7.08 2.71	36.82 22.88
Orange	1996 56-yr. Avg.	5.27 3.92	6.26 3.70	8.24 4.43	5.64 4.05	9.19 3.54	4.09 3.51	38.69 23.15
Painter	1996 56-yr Avg.	3.38 3.41	3.89 3.34	14.37 4.22	4.16 4.21	5.09 3.42	6.02 3.43	36.91 22.03
Suffolk	1996 64-yr. Avg.	4.00 3.82	4.50 4.25	9.12 5.80	4.73 5.84	7.98 4.15	5.10 3.41	35.43 27.27
Warsaw	1996 32-yr Avg.	3.90 4.55	5.19 3.67	6.78 4.20	3.534.17	2.79 4.16	6.02 3.37	28.21 24.12

 

The average rainfall was considerably higher than average at all locations this year.

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SUPPLIERS OF SOYBEAN VARIETIES TESTED IN 1996

SUPPLIER	BRAND	VARIETY
Ag-Chem, Inc. P. O. Box 217B Salisbury, MD 21802	Dynogro	3395, 3410, 3530N
Asgrow Seed Company P. O. Box 7570 Des Moines, IA 50322	Asgrow	A4341, A4922, A5545, A5547
Beachley-Hardy Seed Co. P. O. Box 336 Camp Hill, PA 17011	HT	BHS 4500, BHS 3700, BHS 5300, BHXS 380, Admiral, Hanover
Caverndale Farms 1921 Bluegrass Rd. Danville, KY 40422	Public	CF 461, CF 492
Clemson University Soybean Breeding Program Clemson, SC 29634	Public	SC 87-119, Dillion
Dekalb Genetics Corp. 3100 Sycamore Rd. Dekalb, IL 60115	CX	CX 377, CX 399, CX 445, CX 450C, CX 478
Delta & Pine Land Co. Scott, MS 38772	Deltapine DP	DP 3456, DP 3478, DP 3519S, Deltapine 415, DP 3480
Hartz Seed P. O. Box 946 Stuttgart, AR 72160	H, HX	H 4944, HX 4102, H 5218, H 5545, HX 55086RR, H 5350, H 6104, H 6686RR, H 6255
Hoffman Seeds 144 Main Street Landisville, PA 17538	Hoffman Funk’s	Funks 3505 Hoffman 748A
HyPerformer Seed Co. 5100 Poplar, Suite 3200 Memphis, TN 38137	AP HyPerformer HSC HY	HSC 591, HY 4540, AP 4880, HY 574
Kansas State University Soybean Breeding Program Manhattan, KS 66506	Public	KS 54895
Md. Crop Improv. Assoc. 50 Harry S. Truman Pkwy. Annapolis, MD 21401	Public	Manokin, Bass, Wicomico
Miss. Agric. Foresty & Exp. Stn. USDA/ARS Mississippi St, MS 39762	Public	Exp D91-9391
Mycogen Seeds 203 Brecken Ridge Drive Baldosta, GA 31602	Mycogen	470, 5430
Missouri Foundation Seed 3600 New Haven Road Columbia, MS 65201	Public	Magellan, Mustang, Delsoy 5500
Northrup King Co. P. O. Box 959 Minneapolis, MN 55440	Northrup King NK Coker	NKS 35-35, NKS 42-60, NKS 46-44, NKS 57-11, NKS 59-95, NKS 48-14
N. C. Foundation Seed, Inc. 4025 Beryl Rd. Raleigh, NC 27606	Public	Clifford, Holladay, Brim, Graham N 86-7682
Ohio State University Soybean Breeding Program Wooster, OH 44691	Public	Stressland
Pioneer Hi-Bred, Int'l, Inc. 100 W. Jefferson St. Tipton, IN 46072	Pioneer Variety	9391, 9395, 9396, 9444, 9472, 9482, 9511, 9521, 9552, 9583, 9584, 9594, 9611, 9631, 9641, 9692
Southern States Coop., Inc. 6606 West Broad Street P. O. Box 26234 Richmond, VA 23226	SS FFR HT	HT-381-STS,HT-581-STS, FFR 396, FFR 439, FFR 442, FFR 455, FFR 474, FFR 493, FFR 495, FFR 514, FFR 563, FFR 553, FFR 545, FFR 583, FFR 594, FFR 665, EXP 21814, EXP 20933, EXP 4640, EXP 4782, EXP 5390, EXP 5610, EXP 54005, FFR EXP 22232
Terra International, Inc. 600 4th St, P. O. Box 6000 Sioux, City, IA 51102-6000	Terra	TSD 415, TS 364, TS 474, TS 504, Ts 4792
Va .Foundation Seed, Inc. Box 78 Mt. Holly, VA 22524	Public	Chesapeake, Essex, Hutcheson, Camp, York
VPI & SU, Agron. Dept. Soybean Breeding Program Agronomy Department Blacksburg, VA 24061	Public	V92-0847, V94-0176, V94-0186, V93-2329, V92-0840, V93-3548, V92-0995, V91-2547, V90-798, V91-2492, V92-1333, V93-3476, V93-1633, V93-1142, V93-3114, V92-1182, V92-0974, V92-0058, V93-1606, V92-0254, V90-1012,V93-1555, V93-3036, V91-0223, V93-1607, V91-2935, V93-1613, V93-3056, V93-3143, V91-3036, V93-3158, V93-3397, V92-1063, V88-494,
University of Kentucky Soybean Breeding Program Lexington, KY 40546	Public	Calhoun
University of Tennessee Soybean Breeding Program Knoxville, TN 37901	Public	TN5-95

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Disclaimer: Trade and brand names are used only for the purpose of information and the sponsors do not guarantee nor warrant the standards of the product, nor do they imply approval of the product to the exclusion of others which may also be suitable.

Virginia Cooperative Extension programs and employment are open to all, regardless of race, color, religion, sex, age, veteran status, national origin, disability, or political affiliation. An equal opportunity/affirmative action employer. Issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Virginia State University, and the U. S. Department of Agriculture cooperating. C. Clark Jones, Director, Virginia Cooperative Extension, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg; Lorenza W. Lyons, Administrator, 1890 Extension Programs, Virginia State, Petersburg.