Posted January 2003

Please note: This information is also available for downloading as follows:

• Performance Tables (Excel spreadsheet)
• Introduction and Methods (Word file)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgments

Introduction to Variety Tests

Methods and Definitions

Production Information

Monthly Precipitation

Suppliers of Soybean Varieties TABLES OF DATA:

TABLE 1a-f. Yield Summaries and Average Relative Yield Full Season Entries

TABLE 2a-e. Yield Summaries and Average Relative Yield Double Crop Entries

TABLE 3a-d. Performance of Maturity Group III Full Season Entries

TABLE 4a-c. Performance of Maturity Group III Double crop Entries

TABLE 5a-e. Performance of Maturity Group IV Early Full Season Entries

TABLE 6a-d. Performance of Maturity Group IV Early Double crop Entries

TABLE 7a-e. Performance of Maturity Group IV Late Full Season Entries

TABLE 8a-d. Performance of Maturity Group IV Late Double Crop Entries

TABLE 9a-e. Performance of Maturity Group V Early Full Season Entries

TABLE 10a-c. Performance of Maturity Group V Early Double crop Entries

TABLE 11a-e. Performance of Maturity Group V Late Full Season Entries

TABLE 12a-c. Performance of Maturity Group V Late Double Crop Entries

TABLE 13a-c. Performance of Maturity Group VI Full Season Entries

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Sincere thanks are 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:

Bobby Ashburn, Tidewater Agricultural Research and Extension Center, Suffolk
Lin Barrack, Eastern Virginia Agricultural Research and Extension Center, Warsaw
Glenn Buss, Department of Crop and Soil Environmental Sciences, VPI & SU, Blacksburg
Tommy Custis Eastern Shore Agricultural Research and Extension Center, Painter,
Denton Dixon, Northern Piedmont Agricultural Research and Extension Center, Orange
Rodney Foster, Producer, City of Chesapeake
Ted Haberland, Producer, Madison County
Lyle Pugh, Producer, City of Chesapeakev Billy Wilkinson, Southern Piedmont Agricultural Research and Extension Center, Blackstone

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

The authors would also like to express appreciation to Patsy Lewis, Patty Turner, and Mason Lawrence for their technical assistance. 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 that 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 and double cop conditions at Blackstone, Chesapeake, Orange, Painter, Suffolk, and/or Warsaw. All double-crop tests were no-till planted following small grains. Due to the number of entries, it was necessary to separate the varieties by maturity in all locations.

Virginia experienced one of the worst seasons on record. Drought plagued most of the state during the growing season and rainfall was nearly continuous during harvest season. The dry summer and wet fall led to low yields and poor seed quality. Even so, yields at two of our variety test locations averaged over 50 bushels due to good soils and timely rains. Phomopsis seed decay (represented by seed quality (SQ) ratings) and purple seed stain (PSS) were much higher than normal and is reflected in tables 3-13. Due to very low yields and data variability, the Blackstone full-season and double-crop tests, the Orange double-crop maturity group 3 test, and the Chesapeake double-crop test will not be published. However, data for these locations can be obtained from the authors upon request.

INTERPRETING THE RESULTS

Tables 1 and 2 are yield summaries over all locations. Past analysis of test data indicated that variety selection should be made from multiple years and sites. More locations result in more reliable information. However, average yields over locations should not be used to select the highest yielding variety unless all varieties are tested in all locations because data will be skewed to those varieties that are tested in the highest yielding locations. Therefore, relative yield is a better method of comparing varieties over locations. Relative yield is calculated by dividing the yield of a variety by the average yield of all varieties within the same maturity group at that location. A variety with a relative yield of 105 was 5% above the average of all varieties at that location. Relative yield is not an actual yield, but a value that is relative to all other yield values at that location. Varieties are ranked by relative yield in descending order.

Tables 3 through 13 contain detailed yield and other information from each location. The highest average 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. Multiple-year data can be obtained from the authors. 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, seed quality, purple stain, seed size) 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 10% 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

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

Seeding Rates (seeds/acre):

Maturity Group	Full Season	Double-Crop
III	180,000	240,000
IV	180,000	240,000
V	180,000	240,000
VI	180,000	--

Maturity was taken at the date when 95% of the pods turned brown (R8). Detailed maturity date information was not taken at the Blackstone and Painter due to greater travel distance from the TAREC. Full-season maturity ratings were not taken on a regular basis at the Orange double-crop location. Therefore, data at these locations should not be used to compare varieties within a test.

Lodging 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 (45o 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 is determined as the average length of plants in a plot from the ground to the uppermost node of the plant at maturity.

Purple Seed Stain (PSS) is the percentage of seed from a 100-seed sample that are affected with that disease.

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.
Seed quality ratings are a good representation of Phomopsis seed decay.

Seed Size (SS) is obtained from the weight of a 100-seed sample and is transformed to number of seed per pound.

Yields were collected with a small-plot combine equipped with scales and moisture tester. Yields were adjusted to 13% moisture. A bushel weight of 60 pounds (at 13% moisture) was used to determine bushel-per-acre (BU/AC) yield.

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PRODUCTION INFORMATION

Location	Planting Date	Tillage System	Herbicides	Date Applied	Insecticides	Soil Type	Row Width	Number of Rows		Length of Row Harvested
								Planted	Harvested
Blackstone-FS	5/16	Conv.	Dual Mag./Authority	5/16	None	Applinz	15"	5	3	17'
Chesapeake-FS	6/10	No-Till	Dual Mag, Canopy XL	5/17	None	Ridge Land	15"	5	3	17'
Orange-FS	5/06	Conv.	Dual Mag. (incorp.) Storm, Pinnacle	5/10 7/17	None	Dyke & Starr	15"	5	3	17'
Painter-FS	5/21	Conv.	Dual Mag, Lorox DF	6/21	None	Bojac SL	15"	5	3	17'
Suffolk-FS	5/13	No-Till	Dual Mag, Canopy XL Roundup Ultramax Poast Plus	5/15 6/28	None	Lynchburg FSL	15"	5	3	17'
Warsaw-FS	5/22	Conv.	Python, Dual Mag.	5/7	Warrior Larvin	Kempsville L	30"	4	2	12'
Blackstone-DC	7/02	No-Till	Roundup Ultra Storm, Poast Plus	7/2 7/11	None	Helena SL	15"	5	3	17'
Chesapeake-DC	7/01	No-Till	Roundup Ultra, Dual Mag., Canopy XL Blazer, Poast Plus	6/20 7/10	None	Acredale	15"	5	3	17'
Orange-DC	6/19	No-Till	Storm, Poast Plus	8/7	None	Davidson	15"	5	3	17'
Painter-DC	7/23	No-Till	Dual II Mag., Command EC, Roundup Ultramax Sencor DF	7/12	None	Bojac SL	15"	5	3	17'
Suffolk-DC	6/24	No-Till	Dual Mag, Canopy XL Roundup Ultra Poast Plus, Storm	6/22 8/8	Karate	Lynchburg FSL	15"	5	3	17'
Warsaw-DC	6/21	No-Till	Roundup Ultra Dual Mag.	6/17	Larvin	Kempsville L	24"	4	2	12'
*FS = Full-Season, DC = Double-crop

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MONTHLY PRECIPITATION (INCHES) AND AVERAGE RAINFALL DURING MAY THROUGH OCTOBER AT VARIETY TEST LOCATIONS.

Location		May	June	July	Aug.	Sept.	Oct.	Total
Blackstone	2002 50-yr Avg.	3.00 3.74	1.68 3.87	2.82 4.63	3.98 4.06	2.08 3.75	6.89 3.35	20.45 23.40
Chesapeake	2002 35-yr Avg.	7.60 4.29	2.40 3.59	6.20 5.49	5.90 5.57	4.60 4.14	8.00 3.76	34.70 26.84
Orange	2002 61-yr. Avg.	1.94 3.81	2.84 3.75	5.19 4.52	2.70 3.92	2.49 3.65	5.62 3.41	22.21 23.06
Painter	2002 62-yr Avg.	2.25 3.40	2.15 3.39	5.72 4.49	2.73 4.15	2.10 3.55	5.96 3.32	20.91 22.30
Suffolk	2002 70-yr. Avg.	3.98 3.93	1.66 4.21	5.71 5.80	2.22 5.78	2.96 4.08	4.89 3.40	21.42 27.28
Warsaw	2002 38-yr Avg.	3.28 4.31	3.07 3.76	1.33 4.20	3.01 4.14	2.01 4.12	6.36 3.20	19.06 23.73

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SUPPLIERS OF SOYBEAN VARIETIES TESTED IN 2002

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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 that 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. Dave Barrett, Director, Virginia Cooperative Extension, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg; Lorenza W. Lyons, Administrator, 1890 Extension Programs, Virginia State, Petersburg