Seed Selection Considerations for Soybean and Corn Crop Rotation

Farmers who rotate their crops must decide which soybean and corn seed varieties they’ll use in the coming rotations. With many options to choose from, landing on the best seed varieties for your operation requires careful consideration of several important criteria.

Seed selection and yield data

Every seed variety has strengths and weaknesses relative to the environment in which it is planted. Seek out and compare as many yield-trial results as you can, focusing on how the varieties you’re considering performed in trials near you, under conditions similar to your local environment and within specific relative maturity groups that match your needs. You can also plant small trial plots to test new seed varieties.

Reliable sources of seed variety information include the following:

1. Check online university resources with testing information in your area and in geographies similar to yours. The extensive testing conducted by universities across seed varieties from multiple brands, and their yield data, include resources like Iowa’s Official Variety Trials, produced by Iowa State University’s Iowa Crop Improvement Association. 
2. Seed companies test their products in many locations and conditions and make their results available to farmers, such as the independent field trial results published by BASF for their Xitavo® Soybean Seed.
3. Farmers Independent Research of Seed Technologies (FIRST) publishes harvest and test results on a wide range of soybean and corn seed varieties and brands.
4. Your local seed dealer can discuss seed varieties with you, point you toward pertinent testing data, and help you think through the options.
5. County corn and soybean growers association plots also provide a good look at the performance of corn and soybeans in your area.

 📸: BASF internal photograph/Featuring an example of Pythium seedling disease affecting a young soybean seedling. Notice the "pinch" point at the soil surface and rotting of tissue.

Pest and disease resistance

Today’s proliferating corn and soybean seed varieties have been bred not only for higher yield, but also for genetic resistance or tolerance to many pests, and improvements are being made continually.

Today more than 90 percent of U.S. corn and soybeans are produced using genetically engineered seeds, including many Bt corn varieties specifically engineered to include traits for insect resistance. Bt corn contains genes from the soil bacterium Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) and produces a protein that functions as an insecticide, with various Bt traits each controlling specific insects including corn borer, corn rootworm, and other major above and below ground pests of corn without damaging non-target organisms. 

In 2023, Bt corn was used on 85 percent of U.S. corn acreage.1 A soybean variety such as Xitavo® Soybean Seed XO 4364E has been developed with good tolerance for Phytophthora root and stem rot of soybean, frogeye leaf spot and sudden death syndrome.  

For the most effective disease and pest management, consider seed varieties that have been proven to protect against common problems in your specific location.

Herbicide tolerance for weed control

Herbicide-tolerant (HT) varieties allow farmers to apply herbicides to manage troublesome weeds without harming the cash crop. Since HT crops tolerate certain herbicides (such as glyphosate, glufosinate, and 2,4-D choline) they provide growers a broad variety of options for effective weed control. 

Xitavo® Soybean Seed — available in 44 varieties covering relative maturities of 0.1 to 4.8 — includes a triple-stack, herbicide-tolerant trait known as Enlist E3® technology. Enlist E3 soybeans provide tolerance to glyphosate, Liberty® Herbicide and 2,4-D choline salt. With Xitavo® Soybean Seed, soybean farmers can employ multiple modes of action against their most difficult weeds.

Herbicide-tolerant varieties considered for your operation should be assessed based on what kinds of weeds present the biggest problems in your fields and what resistance those weeds might have.

 📸: BASF internal photograph/Featuring healthy corn seedling enhanced by seed treatment.

xarvio® SeedSelect 

This new variety placement technology, available through BASF’s xarvio® FIELD MANAGER leverages advanced data and analysis methods to refine and simplify the task of seed selection for growers. It helps you work closely with your seed supplier to find the right variety for you, beginning with the many proven and popular varieties of Xitavo® Soybean Seed. 

With xarvio® SeedSelect, varieties are scored on a number of yield-related variables, your fields are evaluated, and then specific varieties and fields are matched — reducing the guesswork and improving yield consistency.   

Getting help with seed selection

Balancing planting decisions alongside all of the many factors that go into seed variety selection can be overwhelming, but there are resources and experts available to help you make your decisions.

Reach out to your seed retailer, a nearby extension office agent, or a seed company professional like your regional BASF representative. The more details you can share with your advisors about the history of your fields — soil conditions, variety, and yield histories, and the challenges you’ve faced with diseases, insects, and weeds — the more likely you’ll be to arrive at selections that will be a good fit for your operation.

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SOURCES

1. "Recent Trends in GE Adoption," USDA Economic Research Service, 2023. https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/adoption-of-genetically-engineered-crops-in-the-u-s/recent-trends-in-ge-adoption 

Always read and follow label directions. Grow Smart, ILEVO, Liberty, Obvius, Poncho, Votivo, and Vault, are registered trademarks of BASF. Xitavo® is a registered trademark of M.S. Technologies, LLC, West Point, IA and is distributed exclusively by BASF. Enlist is a registered trademark of Corteva Agriscience. The transgenic event in Enlist E3 soybeans is jointly developed and owned by Corteva Agrixcience LLC and M. S. Technologies, L.L.C. Copyright 2023 BASF Corporation. All rights reserved.