The 2020 soybean variety trial results are now available for viewing online . This year’s trials were conducted at 3 locations across the state, testing 98 varieties from 13 different seed companies. For the full season trials, each location includes and early and late maturity trials. The top yielding varieties in the state were observed at our Lancaster County location, where yields were greater than 80 bushels per acre.
The trials are viewable as Excel files. Each file has separate sheets for early and late trials, production details, and supporting information. In addition to the yield for each variety, plant height and lodging are recorded.
When interpreting the results, the two LSD values at the bottom of the sheets can be used to determine if differences in yield are due to the effect of the variety or due to field variability. For example, if you are looking at a variety that yielded 72 bushels and the LSD is 5 bushels, this means that for any variety 5 bushels higher or lower than 72, there is not enough evidence to determine whether the difference is due to the variety or a random effect in the trial. When comparing, the LSD(0.05) is a more conservative value that will show fewer differences between varieties, while the LSD(0.2) is a less conservative value.
