Soybeans Today January 1998
From The Chairman...
Roger Pohlner, chairman
Arkansas Soybean
Promotion Board
|
Dear Arkansas Soybean Producer:
The most significant factor affecting soybean yields is a decision you make before you
put a single seed in the ground. It's choosing the right variety. You want to match your
soil type, fertility, past disease pressures and other factors with the variety that has
the highest yield potential for that particular field.
The Cooperative Extension Service, University of Arkansas, has a computer program
called SOYVA that allows you to enter key information and, in return, receive a
recommendation on which varieties you should consider.
Much of the data used to develop the SOYVA program was collected from the Arkansas
Soybean Variety Testing Program. For a reasonable fee, any seed company can enter their
varieties in the program. They receive an unbiased evaluation of that variety when it is
grown under various conditions. Such information is not only valuable to the seed company
in marketing the varieties, the data also provide an extremely valuable service to
Arkansas soybean producers.
For the past couple of years, several of the larger seed companies have refused to
enter their genetically engineered varieties into the program. As a result, when producers
select one of those varieties to plant, the only information they have to aid their
decision is the data generated by the company's research.
In 1997, Novartis elected to enter their soybean varieties with the herbicide tolerant
gene in the variety testing program, joining Terral, AgriPro, Delta Grow, Delta King, SF
Services and Tri-State Delta. I commend these seed companies for their action.
I urge all producers to encourage those companies that have not entered their herbicide
tolerant varieties to do so in the future. If we are expected to adopt this new
technology, which carries a premium price, we should be given the information we need to
make informed decisions.
I would feel much more comfortable if that information came from a known reliable
source such as the University of Arkansas Variety Testing Program, and I'm certain other
producers feel the same way.
Best wishes for another successful year in 1998.
Sincerely
Roger Pohlner, Chairman
Soybeans Today January 1998
Table of Contents
About the ASPB | ASPB Programs | Publications
Research Results | Arkansas
Ag Statistics | Internet Resources
Homepage | Live Dealer
For additional information about any board-related activity contact:
Arkansas Soybean Promotion Board
ATTN: Warren Carter
P.O. Box 31
Little Rock, AR 72203-0031
Phone: 501-228-1265
Copyright �2001 Arkansas Soybean Promotion Board.
All rights reserved.
|