Dear soybean colleague:
Since the early 1990s, Iowa State University (ISU) personnel have conducted field evaluations of soybean varieties that are resistant to the soybean cyst nematode (SCN) in the SCN-resistant Soybean Variety Trial Program. Experiments are conducted on three SCN-infested fields in northern Iowa, three in central Iowa, and three in southern Iowa. At each location, yield is evaluated, and SCN population densities are determined in every plot at planting and again at harvest.
Maturity group I and early group II varieties are evaluated in the northern Iowa district, group II and early group III varieties in the central Iowa district, and late group II and group III varieties in the southern Iowa district.
Complete results (agronomic data and SCN reproduction data) will be sent as soon as possible once end-of-season SCN soil samples are processed and counted. Please be sure to include your e-mail address on the entry form if you want the results sent electronically. The trial results will be distributed to the public via written reports, internet documents, extension meetings, and farm press publications such as the Iowa Farmer Today.
The number of varieties that can be evaluated is limited because the research is very labor intensive, especially collection of the SCN data. Nonetheless, we will be able to test dozens of the most popular SCN-resistant varieties available to Iowa farmers from many different seed companies.
We would like to invite you to complete and submit the form below indicating the SCN-resistant soybean varieties that we can test from your company in 2024. We would like to test varieties that are expected to be widely grown in Iowa in 2024 or are expected to be popular in Iowa in 2025. Please provide information only about released soybean varieties that are approved for general commerce; no experimental lines or products that require crop destruct, please. Please prioritize entries on the form.
There is no fee to have varieties evaluated in the 2024 ISU SCN-resistant Soybean Variety Trial Program. We are able to do the testing without charge to seed companies because of soybean checkoff funding for the work from the Iowa Soybean Association.
We will be allowing nematode-protectant seed treatments. As in past years, we request that all seed be treated with a fungicide-insecticide seed treatment. The seed treatments must be approved for use in soybeans for 2024 in the U.S. We will treat all untreated seed with a fungicide-insecticide.
Please submit the entry form by February 28, 2024. Seed of varieties requested for testing will need to be sent by March 31, 2024. Unused seed will be destroyed. If you have any questions, please contact Mark Mullaney at (641)-328-4849 or mmullane@iastate.edu. We look forward to working with you in 2024.
