Seed: Ask A Good Question; Get A Good Crop

Jan 10, 2017

Good questions to ask your soybean seed supplier

You only get one chance to select your soybean varieties, and there's a lot to consider. Below, University of Wisconsin soybean specialist Shawn Conley, Ph.D., offers five questions you should ask your seed dealer to help you get the information you need to select the right varieties for your acres.

1. What yield data is available?

Ask for a diverse set of yield data. In addition to knowing how well the variety performed in your area last year, it’s important to look at performance data across a variety of environmental conditions. Rapid genetic turnover, coupled with weather variability, makes it critical to select varieties that perform well across environments.

2. What is the source and level of disease resistance?

Know you field history and ask about the level of resistance for key diseases. It’s also important to understand the source of resistance for key diseases, such as soybean cyst nematode, as some traits are more effective than others.

3. What seed treatment options are available?

Ask about seed treatments that can help protect varieties that may be susceptible to key pests and diseases.

4. What herbicide-tolerance traits are available?

Discuss your weed pressures and herbicide-resistance issues you face to help determine the right herbicide-tolerance traits to fit in your weed-management plan.

Video: Root Exudates, Soil Biology, and How Plants Recruit Microbes | Field Talk Friday

Field Talk Friday | Dr. John Murphy | Root Exudates, Soil Biology, and How Plants Recruit Microbes

Most of us spend our time managing what we can see above ground—plant height, leaf color, stand counts, and yield potential. But the deeper you dig into agronomy, the more you realize that some of the most important processes driving crop performance are happening just millimeters below the surface.

In this episode of Field Talk Friday, Dr. John Murphy continues the soil biology series by diving into one of the most fascinating topics in modern agronomy: root exudates and the role they play in shaping the microbial world around plant roots.

Roots are not passive structures simply pulling nutrients out of the soil. They are active participants in the underground ecosystem. Plants constantly release compounds into the soil—sugars, amino acids, organic acids, and other molecules—that act as both energy sources and signals for soil microbes.