AG GENETICS of Arkansas, a non-profit corporation, has been licensed by the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture to market the new high-yielding soybean variety named Caviness.

Ag Genetics of Arkansas is a marketing group open to any qualified seed dealer or grower. Twenty-six Arkansas seed dealers are charter members and 21 of those were licensed to market Caviness certified seed for planting in 2001.

Greg Weidemann, associate director of the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, said the Ag Genetics charter preserves the features of UA crop varieties that are important to producers.

“Farmers contribute Soybean Promotion Board checkoff funds to help support the UA breeding program,” Weidemann said. “We are very careful to put the farmers' interest first in this process. We insisted on several things in the marketing group.

The average yield for 2000 was an impressive 67.1 bushels per acre at the Rice Research and Extension Center at Stuttgart, Ark., and the two-year average yield was 66.2 bushels per acre.

The high-yield potential of Caviness was proven not only in university variety trials in Arkansas, but also in Mississippi and other states. The trials provide an objective evaluation of private and public varieties under typical growing conditions at multiple locations.

University of Arkansas Soybean Specialist Lanny Ashlock said the high-yield potential of Caviness should interest many growers. “It performs best on silt loam soils that are common west of Crowley's Ridge,” he said. “It's a mid-maturity Group V with a good range of performance at different planting dates, including late planting,” he added.

Arkansas seed dealers presently selling Caviness soybeans are: Lawhon Farm Services, McCrory; Petrus Seed and Grain, Hazen; Carter-Cox Seeds, Knobel; Osborne Seed Company, Parkin; Farmer's Supply Co., Marvell; Northeast Arkansas Seeds, Hoxie; Farmers Elevator, Newport; Trent Felton Farms, Marianna; East Arkansas Seeds, Moro; Larkan Seed Farms, Hazen; Farelly Lake-Rollison Seed Co., DeWitt.

Also, Fuller Seed and Supply, Poplar Grove; H.P. Maddox III, Jonesboro; Eagle Seed Co., Weiner; Cromer Bros., Osceola; STECO Seed Co., DeWitt; Cullum Seeds, Fisher; Cache River Valley Seeds, Cash; Taylor Seed Farms, Hickory Ridge; Lawrence County Seeds, Walnut Ridge; and Land O'lakes, Gladstone, Mo.