2016 On-Farm Network Takes Soybean Research into PA Fields
HARRISBURG, PA (May 2, 2016) – As soybean producers throughout Pennsylvania are planting their 2016 crop, a group of growers are also participating in research projects through the On-Farm Network. The On-Farm Network takes soybean research studies out of the lab and small test plots into the fields of Pennsylvania soybean growers to see which management practices have an appreciable impact on production. Now in its eighth year, the On-Farm Network is a program funded by checkoff dollars through the Pennsylvania Soybean Board.
Research this year will focus on three main areas. Based on requests from Pennsylvania soybean growers, research will continue on the response to fungicides and insecticides in high yielding fields typical of those managed by the On-Farm Network farmer/cooperators. Particular attention will be on White Mold to determine best management and timing with Aproach and Domark. Affliance, a new triazole fungicide, will also be tested.
The second research objective is to quantify the response to seed treatments in both double crop and full season beans. “We had a wet year in 2015, and 2016 is forecast to be dry, so we will be able to see the results across these different growing environments,” says Del Voight, Senior Extension Educator at Penn State.
The third aim of the research is to evaluate the impact of bio stimulants and foliar fertilizers. Power Ag products PK Power, BOR Power and BOR Plus PK Power, foliar fertilizers that are applied to the growing soybean bean plants during the season, and M Power, a biologic treatment using bacteria to stimulate root and plant development, will be tested.
The Network works by conducting research in real-world conditions on test plots planted by farmer/collaborators throughout Pennsylvania on their own farms with their own equipment. This year, research will be conducted at 30 different locations in 15 counties throughout Pennsylvania.
The field trials are replicated in strips planted side by side and marked using GPS to test variables to compare a difference in the products used, the application method, timing of the application, or other management practices.
Producers can benefit from this real-world research by making crop management decision developed on a solid foundation of research, says Del Voight, Penn State Senior Extension Educator and crop specialist. Voight oversees the research along with Extension Agent John Bray, Penn State On-Farm coordinator, and Dr. Greg Roth, Penn State agronomist.
“Although a single trial has value, especially to the grower on whose farm it was conducted, there is much more value in looking at data from many on-farm trials from across the state, and over a number of years, and evaluating those results,” says Voight.
For the results of past studies from the On-Farm Network, go the Pennsylvania Soybean Board website at www.pasoybean.org. During the growing season, updates will be available on the Field Crop News website from Penn State.
About the Pennsylvania Soybean Board
The Pennsylvania Soybean Board is a farmer-controlled Board responsible for managing Pennsylvania’s share of funds received from the nationwide Soybean Checkoff program. The funding is available under an assessment program, approved by Congress in 1990, under which soybean farmers contribute 50 cents of every $100 they receive for their beans at the first point of sale. Funds are used to develop markets, educate consumers, and research new ways to utilize and produce soybeans more efficiently. For more information, visit www.pasoybean.org.