Results of Minnesota's 2002 State Soybean Variety Trials are now posted at www.soybeans.umn.edu/. The University's Agricultural Experiment Station conducted the variety trials and compiled the results.
Soybean producers who don't have Internet access can get the variety trial results from the Internet at their county office of the U of M Extension Service. A print version will also be available.
"Choosing a variety is one of the most important decisions a grower makes in planning the next crop," says U of M Extension agronomist Seth Naeve. "The variety trial results can be a key resource for making the right choice."
Yields in the trial results are reported on a percentage basis. The performance of each variety is scored relative to the average yield of all varieties in the test. This "percent of the mean" score shows which varieties yield above average (more than 100 percent) and which yield below average (less than 100 percent).
The University of Minnesota trials test conventional, Roundup Ready, soybean cyst nematode-resistant and special use varieties.
Varieties should be judged as yielding significantly different only if their yields differ by more than the LSD, or least significant difference, says Naeve. This figure is at the bottom of the yield tables and is given as a percentage. Only
varieties that yield more than five percentage points differently in a test with an LSD of five should be considered to perform differently.