Selecting varieties for Mississippi soybean farming is arguably the most important producer decision. Thus, Mississippi soybean producers should select varieties using knowledge from all available sources.

Fortunately, the adjoining states of Arkansas, Louisiana, and Tennessee publish soybean variety trial (SVT) results each year, and results from some locations in these states can be used to supplement the information provided by the Mississippi SVT’s. In addition to yield, each state’s results may also include varietal traits such as protein and oil content of harvested seed, height at maturity, maturity date or relative maturity, and tolerance/resistance to one or more disease and nematode pathogens.

Measurements of and ratings for traits provided in the results of the Midsouth states’ SVT’s provide a source of information that corroborates and/or supplements that provided by seed companies for important characteristics of their varieties. These information sources used together should provide effective resources to allow assessment of varietal traits that are considered important for the varied environments used in Mississippi soybean farming.

Click here for the article on this website that provides links to adjoining states’ SVT websites. This article also contains each state’s test locations and their latitude, soil type and irrigation management at each location, and measurements reported in each state’s results.

Since the SVT’s of these states will have several or many varieties that are common across states and will also have test locations with latitudes similar to those in Mississippi, data from some locations in each of these states can be used to aid in the selection of varieties for Mississippi soybean farming.

Composed by Larry G. Heatherly, Dec. 2014, larryheatherly@bellsouth.net