Roundup Ready vs. Conventional Soybean Variety Yield Test

Many Iowa soybean producers have adopted Roundup Ready (RR) technology on their farms in recent years. Reduced weed control costs, greater flexibility in herbicide application timing, and the potential for “cleaner” soybean fields are often cited as reasons for using RR technology; however, questions remain about potential profit-robbing yield reductions associated with RR varieties. A soybean yield performance comparison of adapted, elite RR varieties and elite conventional varieties was initiated in 1998. Our research objective was to compare genetic yield potential of commercial varieties, not to analyze the economics of one soybean variety-herbicide program versus another. Establishment of similar studies at four other university research farms statewide afforded yield comparisons of adapted varieties from five unique soil associations and environments. Northeast Research Farm soils are typical of the Kenyon-Floyd-Clyde soil association