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Published by the Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station and the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences (CFANS), the variety trials focus on 10 different crops in Minnesota.
According to a press release from the University of Minnesota, field crop trials offer “unbiased and reliable information for farmers ready to make seed choices.”
“Annual trials are one of the main ways MAES works to put valuable research into the hands of farmers and ultimately help improve farm profitability, improve economics and improve the quality of farming. global life in Minnesota, “the statement read.
Since the late 1880s, MAES has published plant variety trial reports, but it was not until 1948 that the trials were combined into one annual publication.
Today, the annual field crop trials are designed by staff and posted online at varietrials.umn.edu, and present several cultures which are tested at several Research and awareness centers and the fields of cooperating farmers across the state.
Crops included in this year’s trial include alfalfa, barley, canola, grain corn, corn silage, oats, soybeans, spring wheat, winter rye and winter wheat. Here are some details for some of the tests:
Alfalfa
According to the report, breeding alfalfa varieties with high forage yield potential and high persistence is “critical to profitability”. Alfalfa varieties developed by the public and private have been evaluated in research trials at the University of Minnesota for more than 80 years, but due to a decline in participation from alfalfa traders and developers, the number of trials has been reduced this year, which will be the last year of the alfalfa variety testing program.
Barley
The average yield at the 14 test sites was 80 bushels per acre, and the highest yields this year were recorded at Stephen (114 bushels per acre) while the lowest grain yields were recorded at Becker.
Canola
The 2021 canola production center was located west of Roseau, on land owned by the Northern Resources Cooperative, according to the field crop trial report, and the primary tillage was carried out by Magnusson Farms.
Corn kernels
The Minnesota Corn Assessment Program was conducted by MAES with the goal of providing “unbiased information for corn growers to use when choosing which brand of corn to buy and grow,” the report says. Private seed companies submitted the products for testing and entry fees funded the program.
Soy
MAES scientists conducted performance tests on public and private soybean entries, with companies paying entry fees for each product entered, according to the report. Although the 2021 season has been unusually dry, particularly in the northwest of the state, the report states that “scattered and timely rainfall greatly aided the harvest” and that the overall yields of the trial were ” higher than expected “.
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