Wrapping up 2020 Harvest - Season Stats and Top Performances

We want to keep you up to date with FIRST testing plans and progress in our Newsletter:  Sign up for the once-a-month email update FIRST's 2020 harvest season wrapped up in mid-December.  We’ve compiled the year-end statistics for the program below.  Overall it was a good year for soybeans, with almost 3%…

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FIRST's 2020 harvest season wrapped up in mid-December.  We’ve compiled the year-end statistics for the program below.  Overall it was a good year for soybeans, with almost 3% higher yields across the program.  The crop held up against widespread drought conditions in the latter part of the season.  

2020 FIRST Season Program Statistics - Corn Grain

2020 FIRST Season Program Statistics - Soybeans

Data from all F.I.R.S.T. plots tested during that year.  Any rejected data was eliminated from these figures.

The Corn grain crop had a mixed year, with drought and windstorm impacts.  Overall, the yields were up around 3% over 2019, with an average similar to 2018 levels.  In southern Minnesota and northern Missouri, corn yields were near record highs.  Very dry western Iowa (North, South) had well below normal yields.  Yields in Pennsylvania and Delmarva areas were generally good, and its Performance Summary includes information on corn grain, corn silage, and soybean yields.  

All of the Performance Summary PDF booklets for our Field Managers’ regions are available on the National Summary Reports page.  Each includes a description and summary of the season, as well as yield comparisons to previous years and a convenient summary of yield performances in the area.

FIRST Major Areas MapIn the December Newsletter, we highlighted the Top 30 product performances in each of the major regional areas of our tests: Northwest, West, and East (see map nearby).  In order to be included, products had to be tested in at least 2 regions, ensuring multiple observations in the summary, and were ranked by Yield Advantage: how many bushels per acre over the site average yield the product performed.  See the results below — 39 brands are represented on these lists! 

Use the Product Search feature to see test performances of these and all of the products tested in 2020, as well as contact information for the outstanding seed companies represented in FIRST tests.

Top 30 Product Performances in FIRST's major Areas

(Click tables to enlarge)

2020 Northwest Region - Top 30 Product Performances

2020 West Region - Top 30 Product Performances

2020 East Region - Top 30 Product Performances