Year 1 Results of Organic Official Variety Trials: Corn and Soybeans

— Written By NC State Extension
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by: George Place and Chris Reberg-Horton

The Organic Official Variety Test (OVT) began in 2009 through grant funding from the USDA Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative (OREI). This project seeks to test non-GMO varieties of corn, soybean, and wheat in organic production conditions (both on organic farms and at research stations with organically managed land) in order to provide NC organic field crop producers with more information about how available varieties may perform in organic conditions. The Organic OVT also provides crop breeders an opportunity to test advanced crop lines and discern what genetic backgrounds may outperform in organic conditions.

The primary challenge for organic soybean producers is weed control. Many of the advanced lines that breeders enter into the test are thought to produce a large canopy very early in the season. Previous research has shown that soybean varieties with a larger leaf area at two weeks after planting are better able to reduce weed biomass. Comparing crop variety performance in weedy conditions is a difficult research target because if weed pressures are minimal, varieties that compete well with weeds may not stand out. Additionally, if weed pressures are too great, differences between varieties in ability to compete with weeds can be impossible to detect because of the overwhelming crop yield losses and non-uniform nature of weed populations.

The 2011 soybean organic OVT results for Wayne and Lenoir county are presented in table 1. In Lenoir county, soybean was planted on May 9 on Leon sand soil with no irrigation. Rows were bedded on 38 inch row spacing with a target population of approximately 165,000 plants per acre. Weed control management included two rotary hoeings in the first two weeks and four cultivations between week two and week five. Harvest took place on Nov 2. In Wayne county, soybean was planted on May 11 on Kalmia loamy sand soil with no irrigation. Rows were on 38 inch row spacing with a target population of approximately 165,000 plants per acre. Weed control management included two rotary hoeings in the first two weeks followed by two weekly cultivations. Harvest took place on Nov 15.

Organic corn production has a number of challenges including access to non treated, non GMO seed. There are few organic seed options for NC organic field crop producers. For this reason, the organic corn OVT has fewer entries than the soybean test and many of these hybrids come from the Midwest. NC State corn breeder, Dr. Major Goodman, is currently working on the development of a gametophytic barrier corn hybrid for organic production. The gametophytic barrier would prevent the cross contamination by neighboring GMO corn hybrids.

Read More on our 2011 Organic Wheat, Corn and Soybean OVT page

Updated on Feb 26, 2014
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