University of Nebraska publishes 2016 Spring Seed Guide

The University of Nebraska has released its Spring Seed Guide for 2016 which includes corn and soybeans.

The purpose of the seed guide is to make farmers aware of the choices they have when it comes to making hybrid and variety selections for planting in the spring. The guide also includes the average yields for the past 10 years for Nebraska’s corn and soybean crops.

In 2015, Nebraska saw a record 187 bushels per acre of corn for a total of 1.683 billion bushels.

Nine performance tests were conducted in eastern and northern Nebraska, with hybrids selected by the seed producers. The Butler County rain-fed test was planted in early May and harvested in early November, with an average yield of 253. The Hamilton County irrigated test was planted and harvested in the same window, with an average yield of 328 bushels per acre.

Nebraska soybean farmers produced 291 million bushels of soybean crop in 2015, with an average soybean yield of 56 bushels per acre. The average is slightly higher than it was in 2014 and the most Nebraska has seen in the past 10 years.

Ten trials were planted in five locations, including the Saline County rain-fed test where the site used a no-till system and was planted into corn residue. The early maturing test had 12 entries and averaged 49 bushels per acre. The late maturing test had 22 entries and averaged 55 bushels per acre.