January 7, 2021
TRIAL OBJECTIVE
Product performance across environments is one of the key evaluations made with new product releases.
Water drives crop production on the Great Plains and understanding how XtendFlex® soybeans perform under irrigation compared to Roundup Ready 2 Xtend® soybeans is valuable information to farmers.
RESEARCH SITE DETAILS
| Location | Gothenburg, NE | ||
| Soil Type | Silt loam | ||
| Previous Crop |
Corn | ||
| Tillage Type |
No tillage |
| Planting Date | 6/5/20 | ||
| Harvest Date | 11/4/20 | ||
| Potential Yield (bu/acre) |
80 | ||
| Seeding Rate (seeds/acre) |
160,000 |
- Trial design was a randomized complete block with three replications of eight treatment.
- Two 3.6 maturity group soybean products with similar genetics were used in the trial:
- XtendFlex® soybean product MG3.6XF
- Roundup Ready 2 Xtend® soybean product MG3.6X
- Soybean plots were planted on June 5, 2020 into plots with a full soil profile in the Rainout Shelter. The Rainout Shelter prevents precipitation from reaching plots by closing over the plot area during precipitation events. However, the building is open the rest of the season to allow for normal accumulation of sunlight and heat.
- Irrigation treatments of 6, 10, 14, and 18 inches were applied through a surface drip irrigation system over an 8-week period (mid-July to mid-September).
- Applications were split equally during that time from 0.75 inches per week in the 6-inch treatments to 2.25 inches per week in the 18-inch treatment.
- Weeds were controlled as necessary and no other pesticides or fertilizers were applied.
Figure 1. XtendFlex® soybeans and Roundup Ready 2 Xtend® soybeans planted in the Rainout Shelter at the Bayer Water Utilization Center at Gothenburg, Nebraska. Plots show variation in yellowing because of moisture stress. The shelter was closed over the plots to demonstrate how it covers the plots during precipitation events.
UNDERSTANDING THE RESULTS
Figure 2. Average soybean yield under four different irrigation rates.
For this trial, there was no significant interaction between irrigation rate and soybean products.
There was no significant difference in average yield between Roundup Ready 2 Xtend® soybeans and XtendFlex® soybeans.
Average yields from 10-, 14-, and 18-inch irrigation rates were all statistically similar, and greater than the average yield from the 6-inch rate.
KEY LEARNINGS
The two XtendFlex® soybean products tested in this trail maintained the same yield performance as Roundup Ready 2 Xtend® soybeans across irrigation rates. This was true for the water stressed environment with a 6-inch application through fully watered treatments.
Farmers should be confident that the yield potential of XtendFlex soybeans would be similar to the yield potential of Roundup Ready 2 Xtend soybeans of similar genetics when exposed to field conditions with varying amounts of available soil moisture.
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