2011 Soybean Growers Field Day

The Pennsylvania Soybean Board extended an invitation to the state’s soybean growers to take a first-hand look at the research being conducted on their behalf, and nearly 200 growers took them up on the invitation.

The annual Soybean Grower’s Field Day, held August 25, 2011 at Penn State’s Southeast Ag Research and Extension Center (SEAREC), is designed to show off the latest in soybean research and to update growers on a variety of soybean-related issues. Penn State plant pathologists, weed specialists, and other soybean researchers updated producers on the latest research and production recommendations.

Concepts designed to improve yields, reduce inputs, and improve the quality and profitability of soybeans are refined and tested in a field setting at the Penn State Research Farms in Landisville (Lancaster County) and Rock Springs (Centre County) before being introduced into practice by Pennsylvania growers.

The research showcased at the Soybean Growers Field Day was funded in large part by the soybean checkoff. The Pennsylvania Soybean Board is tasked with deciding how best to spend checkoff dollars collected from growers across the state, and a large portion goes to scientific research designed to make soybean production more profitable for growers.

• Soybean Variety Performance Test featuring glufosinate resistant, glyphosate resistant and conventional varieties
• Fungicide Efficacy Trial
• Plant Stress Product Efficacy Trial
• Herbicide Efficacy Trial
• Molybdenum Impact on Soybeans
• High-Yield Test Plot Comparison: Evaluates yield results and return on investment of “kitchen sink” high inputs versus standard input recommendations.

The 2011 Soybean Growers Field Day was held at the Southeast Agricultural Research & Extension Center (SEAREC), home to Penn State’s applied field research program in the south central region of the state.

Soybean growers from throughout Pennsylvania spent a day touring the fields at Penn State’s research farm to learn about the latest university studies being conducted to improve soybean production.

Farmers check out Penn State's test crops to see how the latest research was working in the fields.

Noted Delaware agronomist Dr. Richard Taylor was the keynote speaker at the 2011 Soybean Growers Field Day.

Standing next to a moly-treated field, Del Voight, Lebanon County Extension educator, explains the findings of the moly trial.

Farmers to take a close look at control plots and those treated with Ignite in a research project designed to find effective measures to control horseweed.

Seven different trials, split between Penn State’s research farms in Landisville, Pa. and Rock Springs, Pa., are currently being studied with a total of 75 different varieties of soybeans.

Farmers attending the Soybean Growers Field Day inspect soybean plants which show evidence of brown marmorated stink bugs.