FIRST Newsletter | October 2022

28-Oct-2022 | Issue 22 | www.firstseedtests.com

In This Issue

Harvest progress report
Call for Plot Hosts
NEW overall yield feature
Yields vs historic

2022 Harvest Progress

At the time of this newsletter, FIRST is close to 70% finished with harvesting the 2022 plots.

There have been very dry conditions in much of Iowa, South Dakota, and Central Minnesota this year. While there was great harvest weather, drought definitely reduced the yield potential in many areas.

There have been some plot losses due to the moderate to severe drought in South Dakota, see the nearby photo at Beresford, SD.

Illinois was not affected by drought in almost any location and has had great yields. Much of northern Indiana had good rainfall as well, and yield averages close to 250 bu/ac were recorded. A couple of farms in Missouri had record corn yields. The season-high corn plot average is at Elverson, PA with 288 bu/ac.

Above -- Randy Meinsma harvesting a high-yielding soybean plot at Washington, IA, Oct. 14, 2022. See the Harvest Report

Soybean harvest is complete in Iowa, Illinois, North and South Dakota, and Nebraska as of the end of October. After barreling ahead at the start of October, a number of FIRST managers were slowed down by illness. Everybody is getting back in full swing here at the end of October.

Stay tuned for more results coming out this week around the FIRST program.

Randy and Bryce Meinsma had a visit from Bryce's son Reed while harvesting the Sully, IA corn plot Oct. 15, 2022. See the Harvest Report

Drought damage in the corn plot at Beresford, SD, October 25, 2022. Photo courtesy of Jason Frick.

Recruiting growers to host FIRST test plots

FIRST cannot accomplish on-farm trials without the help of our great farmer members throughout the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic. If you would like to compare 30+ hybrids and varieties in your fields, hosting a FIRST plot is a great way to do it! FIRST professiona managers are farmers themselves, and there are no research facilities or plot locations owned by the organization. FIRST trials are operated with and for farmers.

We need conscientious folks who will coordinate with us to flag out the plot sites, apply inputs in keeping with the seed technologies being tested, provide management details for reporting, and send a truck at harvest to haul the grain - which hosts keep. FIRST's professional managers plant the randomized strip plots, check stands and till alleys, and harvest to collect yield data.

Weather and management changes in the spring sometimes get in the way of planned plots, and having volunteers is a huge help for the program. We are always looking for service-minded farm families to partner with us.

Interested in hosting a plot? Click here to let us know!

2022 Program Yield Features

Whole program yields in 2022

We have a special interactive yield feature to introduce. The 2022 program yield averages and yields by state are available on our website. You can see the difference from trend yield that was presented in the December 2021 newsletter.

The data are updated when harvest reports are published for the rest of this season.

View the 2022 Program Yields

The graphs below show how state-wide yields look as of October 25, 2022. These yields are compared to averages in the period 2013-2021. Note, some locations have not yet been harvested. Location yields are listed on the publication pages for corn grain, soybeans, and silage.

2022 Corn Grain State-wide yields compared to averages from 2013-2021, all locations in the state.

2022 State-wide corn grain yields through 2022-10-28

2022 Soybean State-wide yields compared to averages from 2013-2021, all locations in the state.

2022 State-wide soybean yields through 2022-10-28

2022 Performance Summaries

Due to high costs and mailing delays, FIRST will not be printing and mailing Performance Summary booklets this year. We will produce the summary PDFs and post them on www.firstseedtests.com. The Top 30 performances across all locations in each region, FIRST's region summary reports, are compiled in the Performance Summaries. We encourage you to use them in making seed selections for 2023.

Seed companies participating in the trials can contact FIRST managers about how to obtain copies of the Performance Summaries this year.

"I appreciate the work you guys do!"

— Iowa farmer, to FIRST

Unbiased, Accurate Yield Testing. Every Time.

We welcome your feedback or questions about the FIRST program!

Please contact us at info@firstseedtests.com