Soybean Research Can Lead To Correct Varieties For Specific Areas

By Don Molino

Voice of Louisiana Agriculture Radio Network

LSU AgCenter Soybean Specialist Dr. David Moseley is conducting statewide research into which soybean varieties work best where. He reports they’ll be looking at things besides yields.

“We will also be looking at some growth characteristics such as plant height and lodging. In addition, we have some pathologists that look for disease resistance, such as tap root decline.

“When you look at the yields and other traits such as disease resistance, a producer can use that data to help select the variety that would perform well in his or her particular environment. One that has a good chance to perform well in a particular area, but also have shown to be stable and that it performs well across the environment.

“So any given year you could have different environments and it’s good to see which variety performs well across environments. And that gives it the best chance to perform well in any given year at a particular environment.”

(This report a service of the Louisiana Soybean, Grain Research and Promotion Board)