E2—Lancaster Farming, Saturday,- January 5,1980
Here’s how to design your own yield trial
BLOOMINGTON, 111. - A
farmer can gain meaningful
information by looking at
university plots, at seed
company yield results, and
at his neighbor’s crop all he
likes, but there’s no sub
stitute for testing hybrids on
his own farm.
But how do you design a
test plot that will give you
meaningful results? And
what should you look for
when examining those
results?
Gary Elder makes his
living designing and
evaluating test plots for
Funk Seeds International.
As product evaluation
scientist, Elder looks at
hundreds of test plots an
nually, and he provides the
following guidelines for
farmers wanting to perform
their own on-farm hybrid
evaluations.
Keep the plot from being
too large. One-half to one
acre per hybrid is adequate.
“Many growers feel they
do not get meaningful results
unless the hybrids are
planted on large acreages.
But the larger the plot, the
more field variation you will
have. Field variation can
cause tremendous dif
ferences in performance,”
Elder states.
Select a uniform field. If
the field has “poor spots”
running through it, plant
rows perpendicular to those
spots so that all hybnds
being tested are subjected to
the same soil conditions.
Select a location that is
representative of your farm
and that is as uniform as
possible.
Use one of the test hybrids
as a check. That is, plant the
same hybrid three or four
times in the plot, at equal
intervals between the other
test hybrids. The per
formance of the check
hybrid should not vary in the
plot by more than five or six
bushels per acre. If it varies
more than 10 to 15 bushels,
then there is too much field
variation, according to
Elder.
Plant hybrids of different
maturity. Probably two
early hybrids, three or four
medium maturity hybrids,
and two late maturing
hybrids should be included in
your test. This allows you to
evaluate more hybrids in the
maturity to which most of
your crop will be planted.
But treat all of the hybrids
alike.
According to Elder, all
hybrids should be planted on
the same day, at the same
population and row width,
and at the same level of
fertility. This will give you
the most fair comparison
between hybrids. Dif
ferences in maturity can be
taken into account at harvest
time.
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Don’t let one year’s test
make your decisions. Elder
says that a good testing
program should be an on
going program.
“You may want to throw
out your poorest performer
after one year, but don’t give
up on a hybrid just because it
does not come out on top in
yield. Growing seasons vary,
and some hybrids can take
stress better than others,”
he says.
Watch your plant height
when laying out the con
figuration of the plot.
Do not plant a short hybrid
between two extra tall
hybrids, especially if you are
only planting four rows of
each hybrid, says Elder. The
tall hybrids will shade out
the short hybrid, providing
untrue results.
Your seed dealer can
provide information on
expected plant height.
Plant enough rows for
each hybrid. Although there
is no formula for the number
of rows to be planted for
each hybrid, Elder says that
six to eight rows per hybnd
work well. Four rows in
probably a minimum, and
more than eight will make
the plot larger than may be
desirable.
Eliminate as many
variables as possible. Treat
hybrids equally. For most
meaningful results, manage
the test plot just like you
manage the crop on the
remainder of your farm.
With the seed on the
ground, the next step is
evaluation. Accurate
records should be kept
throughout the entire
growing season, Elder says,
m order to correctly com
pare hybrid performance.
Check germination and
emergence. The early
growing season is a good
time to check for hybrid
resistance to com borers or
other pests as well as
uniform stands.
Note the date of flowering,
too. Ideally you should plant
hybrids with varying
flowering dates to spread the
risks at pollination time.
Therefore, it is important to
note the flowering date of
each hybrid.
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Yield is , only _ one har
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Monitor harvest moisture,
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resistance, combinm
ability, root lodging, .
other important c._.
siderations (such as shucl
coverage ordain quality).
Check for overall plant
soundness, especially if u
has been a year where there
was little stress.
“If you haven’t had any
severe wind prior to harvest,
squeeze the base of the stalk
to see if a hybrid might be
‘spongy’. If it is, it may not
stand well under more
stressful conditions,” the
Funk researcher says.
a