Wet weather delayed harvest of MU Variety Testing Program soybean plots, says Mark Wieberg, the senior research specialist at the University of Missouri who is in charge of the program.

Wieberg, along with research associates, was still in the field harvesting soybeans in early November, with the last plot at the University of Missouri Experiment Station in Rock Port, Mo., harvested Nov. 10. Still, that site produced the highest individual yield for the Northern Region for Group 3 and 4 soybeans at 90.3 bushels per acre with AgVenture 38V3E, and 90.6 bushels per acre with APEX AE4120.

Yields around the state

There were 19 MU Variety Testing Program soybean plots around the state in 2021, stretching from the Bootheel in the southeast to the far northwest corner. The sites are grouped into four regions — Southeast, North, Central and Southwest. Depending on location, soybean group maturities planted varied.

The Southeast was once again the bright spot for the trials with Dexter posting a top individual soybean yield of 104.2 bushels per acre with AgriGold G4615XF. The variety performed well for the region, posting the top average yield of 91.5 bushels per acre across four locations.

In the Central Region, the Columbia locations struggled this year. The highest yield for Group 3 soybeans was 48.8 bushels per acre, with Group 4 at 53.3 bushels per acre, where others in the region recorded top yields of 20 or more bushels higher.

Analyze soybean results

Farmers should look at multiple years of data to analyze soybean variety performance, and but not base decisions on only one year. However, the past few years in Missouri has been full of weather extremes, causing delays in planting and harvesting. It is good to see how soybean seed performs across varied conditions and multiple years.

Click through the slideshow for the top 10 soybean varieties in 2021 based on average yield by region. For more information on your own soybean variety, visit the MU Variety Testing Program website.