Mississippi Agricultural News:
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Soybean Information On-Line For FarmersBy Bonnie Coblentz MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Soybean growers with Internet access have a valuable resource to help them as they choose what varieties to plant in their fields. Dr. Alan Blaine, Mississippi State University extension agronomist, said 1997 soybean variety trial information is now posted on the Internet. Information is available on yield, maturity dates, disease reactions, lodging scores and long-term yield averages. Results of the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station soybean variety trials for 1994-1996 are available at http://www.ext.msstate.edu/soyvar. "Having it on the Internet gives farmers much quicker access to this information, whereas in the past it took a few months before it was in printed form," said Terry Dulaney, Mississippi Soybean Promotion Board member and soybean grower. "Having the soybean variety trials on the Internet is an additional way growers can get the information," Blaine said. "The variety trials are a starting point and a guide that will help them with variety selection." In addition to statewide trials, local and on-farm trials give growers more information to choose the best varieties for their fields. "There's no such thing as a perfect variety," Blaine said, "since no one variety fits every farm every year." Previously, soybean variety trial information was available only through extension offices and seed companies. It will continue to be available this way, as well as from the Internet. "It will probably take some time for farmers to switch from wanting to see the information in the book to wanting to see it on the Internet," Dulaney said. "I think it will be easier to use once people become accustomed to using the Internet." In addition to the variety trial information, the web site also lists the Mississippi State University Extension Service's high yield soybean variety lists. Information on disease problems is provided, and also a link to StratSoy, the national network for soybean information. The Office of Agricultural Communication, through funding from the Mississippi Soybean Promotion Board, posted this variety trial information on the Internet and will update it yearly, Blaine said. Release:
Feb. 3, 1997 |
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