U of A Variety Tests Offer Unbiased Information: January 1998 Soybeans Today

Soybeans Today January 1998

U of A Variety Tests Offer Unbiased Information

By Howell Medders

Don Dombek examines plants in the U of A variety test.

Arkansas soybean producers spent around $40 million on seed for the 1997 crop. Seed companies competed for a share of that huge market with more than 175 different soybean varieties.

"Farmers need the best unbiased information they can get because the number of varieties we have to choose from causes a lot of confusion," says Terry Fuller, a Phillips County farmer and owner of Fuller Seed and Supply at Poplar Grove.

"The University of Arkansas variety trials are the best thing we've got going to compare variety A to variety Z," Fuller adds.

The U of A Testing Program "is the only source of unbiased information regarding the performance of varieties within Arkansas," says Don Dombek, who coordinates the Division of Agriculture's Soybean Variety Testing program.

Variety testing is funded primarily by state appropriations to the Division of Agriculture and is supplemented by seed company entry fees and an Arkansas Soybean Promotion Board (APB) grant.

Dombek and Dr. Lanny Ashlock, an Extension Service soybean agronomist, are leaders of the Arkansas Soybean Promotion Board-funded project to strengthen the testing program and deliver timely information to producers.

The genes packaged in a variety determine the plant's ability to resist disease, tolerance to some herbicides, and optimum planting and harvest dates, in addition to the all-important yield potential in irrigated or non-irrigated fields, Dombek says.

The APB also supports specialized variety testing projects that focus on disease resistance; field tolerance for specific diseases; varieties for early planting; sensitivity to the herbicide propanil at rates similar to the drift from an adjacent rice field; and sensitivity of transgenic Roundup-Ready (RR) varieties to different herbicides, diseases and soil chloride levels.

Sixteen Roundup Ready varieties and eight experimental strains were entered in the 1997 variety testing program.

Some seed companies have declined to enter RR varieties in the program, citing concern that conventional herbicides may injure RR plants and reduce yields compared to RR varieties treated only with Roundup, Dombek said. Those companies indicated they would enter varieties in tests open only to RR varieties.

Studies in 1996 indicated that RR varieties treated with conventional herbicides did not yield less than those same varieties treated with Roundup. The studies were repeated in 1997.

"Unless we have scientific evidence that Roundup-Ready varieties should be tested separately, we need to test all varieties, including the transgenics, under the same conditions to provide the information that producers need to select the best varieties for their field conditions and production systems," Dombek said.

The program includes experimental strains entered by breeders from private companies and public breeding programs such as the one conducted by the UA Division of Agriculture in cooperation with other states.

Tests are conducted at six Arkansas locations, with and without irrigation at three sites. The locations are the Northeast Research and Extension Center, Keiser; Cotton Branch Station, Marianna; Rice Research and Extension Center, Stuttgart; Southeast Research and Extension Center, Rohwer; Charles Starks Farm, Mandeville (Red River Valley); and the Vegetable Substation, Kibler.

Soybeans Today January 1998
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For additional information about any board-related activity contact:

Arkansas Soybean Promotion Board
ATTN: Brandy Carroll
P.O. Box 31
Little Rock, AR 72203-0031
Phone: 501-228-1268

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