TIFFIN, Ohio — FS Hisoy HS 29A12 narrowly beat out other brands of soybean hybrids in a northwestern Ohio 2011 field test conducted by Farmer’s Independent Research of Seed Technologies (F.I.R.S.T.).

FS Hisoy yielded 61.8 bushels per acre, which was nearly a tie with Burtch Seed Co. variety, 342R2, netting 61.6 bushels. Channel 3402R2 finished in third place with 60.6 bushels (see below).

Conditions were wet from springtime to harvest on Chris Magers’ Seneca County farm. Magers reported the plot looked good all summer, even with the rainfall.

“Planting was delayed here from extended spring rains. It remained wet through harvest, even on a sandy soil,” said Rich Schleuning, F.I.R.S.T. site manager.

Magers dropped 140,000 seeds per acre on June 5 and harvested 104,500 stands per acre Oct. 26.

“Plants were very tall, up to five feet, with long internodes between pod clusters. A few plants were slightly lodged. Soybean seed size was quite large in these ideal conditions,” Schleuning said.

Lodging was at 1 percent for the top 30 yielders, except for FS Hisoy HS 31A02 and Steyer 3403R2, which were lodged at 2 percent. Gross income was $737.20, $734.50 and $722.60, respectively, for the top three brands.

The previous crop had been corn treated with glyphosate. The soil was described as sandy clay loam, well-drained and non-irrigated. Magers applied conventional tillage with fall till. He treated for pests with Roundup.

Check www.firstseedtests.com for a complete listing of tests, varieties and all manner of other data.