Selecting a soybean variety is one of the most important decisions a producer can make to have a successful crop.
To help Louisiana soybean producers select the most suitable variety, the Louisiana State University AgCenter conducts an official variety trial (OVT).
The 2021 OVT consisted of 125 varieties entered by 12 seed companies and two university soybean breeding programs. The varieties consisted of several different herbicide technologies and the maturity groups ranged from 3.7 to 5.9.
The trial was replicated at seven research stations across the state in different soil types including sandy loam, silt loam, silty clay loam and clay. At each location, the varieties were replicated four times.
The preliminary data can be found at the LSU AgCenter Website. A soybean variety and management guide will be published at the website soon.
In addition to yield, the maturity date, height, lodging resistance and resistance to several diseases are included.
When making selections, it is important to consider varieties with the best performance and stability.
A producer should evaluate varieties that perform the best in an environment similar to their own and varieties that perform well over multiple environments.
When possible, variety performance over multiple environments and multiple years should be considered.
Click for 2021 preliminary OVT results