2011 Michigan Soybean Performance Report is available

Michigan soybean producers can improve soybean yields and profitability with information in the Michigan Soybean Performance Report.

Selecting the best adapted soybean varieties for your farm is one of the most profitable decisions you will make. To ensure that you are selecting the best adapted and highest yielding varieties for your farm, you should use three sources of information:

  1. The Michigan Soybean Performance Report
  2. Seed suppliers
  3. Your own on-farm variety trials/comparisons.

If you are not using any one of these sources of information, you are reducing the probability that you are selecting the best-adapted and highest-yielding varieties.

Most soybean agronomists agree that evaluating variety performance data from as many different environments as possible is essential to selecting top performing varieties. The Michigan Soybean Performance Report is excellent for comparing the yields, standibilty, maturity and white mold tolerance of soybean varieties across multiple locations and years. It is updated annually and the 2011 report is available now from local MSU Extension offices or online at the MSU Variety Trials website. The report will also be published in the Michigan Farm News and mailed directly to Michigan soybean producers courtesy of the Michigan Soybean Checkoff.

A searchable database for the Michigan Soybean Performance Report is available online. The database enables soybean producers to input specific search criteria such as soybean cyst nematode resistance, protein and oil content and maturity. The highest yielding varieties having the selected characteristics will be identified. The 2011 data will be added to the searchable database in early December.

Soybean quality (oil and protein content) will become an important issue to Michigan soybean producers as China, the largest soybean importer, is demanding soybeans that contain at least 19 percent oil and 35 percent protein on a 13 percent moisture basis. Michigan is widely recognized along with Indiana and Ohio for delivering high protein soybeans to international buyers. However, we struggle to consistently produce soybeans containing 19 percent oil. Variety selection is the most reliable way to increase the oil content of your soybean crop, so this information should be considered when identifying potential varieties for 2012. The Michigan Soybean Performance Report lists the oil and protein contents of all the entries.

Remember that gathering and evaluating information from a variety of sources is essential to selecting high-yielding soybean varieties and the 2011 Michigan Soybean Performance Report should be one of these sources.

This article was produced by the SMaRT project (Soybean Management and Research Technology). The SMaRT project was developed to help Michigan producers increase soybean yields and farm profitability. Funding for the SMaRT project is provided by MSU Extension and the Michigan Soybean Checkoff program.

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