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Rules
What You Need to Do for the 2010 Yield Challenge
Participants are required to set up two plots for entry into the Yield Challenge. These plots must be adjacent to each other. The plot GPS coordinates must be reported to the Yield Challenge officials by July 1, 2010. The two side-by-side plots should be located on ground that is as similar as possible in order to effectively compare and identify strategies that may contribute to yield increase.
- Participants grow the same variety of soybeans in each plot and plant the plots on the same day.
- One five-acre plot is designated as the "Check plot," in which no novel treatments are performed and soybeans are grown as they normally would be grown by the participant (See Figure #1).
- The other five-acre plot is designated as the "Yield Challenge plot," in which growers use an innovative treatment or set of treatments that could enhance yield (See Figure #1).
- Participants are required to keep records of management practices for both the Check (normal practice) and Yield Challenge plots. Participants must provide routine crop scouting records and all crop management records throughout the season for both the Check and Yield Challenge plots.
- In order to determine accurate yield estimates, each participant must select a two-acre harvest area from each five-acre plot. The harvest area can be designated in various ways as long as a minimum of two acres is harvested. For example, if using a 30-foot-wide header, then eight swaths of 363 feet long each to total two acres can be harvested (See Figure #1).
- Harvest operations must be witnessed by one or more harvest supervisors and be calculated on the basis of No. 1 soybeans corrected to 13 percent moisture, then converted to bushels per acre.
- Any management used by participants in the Yield Challenge cannot violate any State, Federal or local laws. Participants who fail to comply lawfully and/or ethically as determined by a Yield Challenge review panel are ineligible for further participation or awards.
Figure #1: Example layout of a Yield Challenge field and the two-acre harvest areas for each plot.
Challenge Rules
Yield Challenge fields must be located in Illinois. Challenge winners agree to allow the Illinois Soybean Association and its cooperators and sponsors to use production data for promotional or educational materials, as well as activities and events.
Challenge Administration
Yield Challenge 2010 is administered by the Illinois Soybean Association, with the assistance of the University of Illinois Extension. Extension specialists; researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Southern Illinois University, Illinois State University and Western Illinois University; and crop inspectors may serve as harvest supervisors and assist with data collection.
If you have questions about this entry form, please contact the Illinois Soybean Association by calling toll free: 888-826-4011.
