A spike in traditional soybean varieties could be signaling a sea change in the seed industry. The University of Missouri Variety Testing Program saw a significant increase in non-glyphosate-resistant varieties in 2009, amounting to almost 15% of total entries.

"This is the biggest jump we've seen," says Howard Mason, MU plant sciences research associate. "The number of non-glyphosate varieties dropped most of the past decade, starting at 34% in 2000 and falling to a low of 1% in 2006."

Companies entered 61 non-glyphosate varieties and 353 Roundup-ready varieties last year as the program continued to see overall growth in participation. Howard said the shift in entries comes as farmers cope with growing weed resistance to glyphosate and high technology fees associated with Roundup-ready seed.

"There's been a little antagonism toward Monsanto, so some companies have tried to push the non-glyphosate varieties and some elevators have started paying a premium of a couple dollars a bushel for them," Mason notes. "Along with seed prices being way less for non-glyphosate varieties, and despite herbicide costs being more expensive, some farmers have begun to rethink what they plant."

MU's testing program began in 1973 with only 51 varieties. The program, funded by a $100 fee for each entry, strives to provide unbiased information for farmers to compare varieties.

"Variety selection is probably the easiest and cheapest decision farmers can make to increase their harvest size," Mason adds. "If just choosing the right variety can increase your yield by eight bushels, it's easy to see that it's something farmers should pay more attention to."

FYI

Test results for 2009 are available online at varietytesting.missouri.edu/soybean. Downloadable reports show yield data from 20 sites across Missouri. Sites are grouped by region—North, Central, Southwest and Southeast. A head-to-head comparison tool also allows farmers to compare the yields of any two varieties. A summary report is also published on pages 16-17 in the February issue of Missouri Ruralist.

 Source: MU Cooperative Media Group