USDA's North Dakota Agricultural Statistics Service designed and conducted a soybean variety survey for the 1994 crop year. This survey was partially funded by the North Dakota Crop Improvement Association. The North Dakota State University Crop and Weed Science Department provided soybean varietal and seed developer information. The survey, conducted in October, 1994, was the first of its kind for the State.

The Data

Nearly 400 reports from soybean growers were summarized. Reported acreage accounted for 31 percent of North Dakota's estimated 640,000 soybean acres.

Planted soybean acreage was collected and summarized by individual public varieties and by private seed developers. Mixed or unknown varieties were also collected.

According to the survey, 66.8 percent of the 1994 soybean acres were planted with privately developed varieties. Public varieties were planted on 32.2 percent of the acreage and 1.0 percent was planted with unknown or mixed varieties. Small soybean operations tended to grow a higher proportion of public varieties than large operations.

Private Varieties

Private seed developers provide the majority of soybean seed to North Dakota farmers. Pioneer was the largest provider and accounted for 46.3 percent of the total seeded acreage. The other most popular private seed developers were Gold Country and Northrup King. These accounted for 8.5 and 2.1 percent of the acreage, respectively.

Public Varieties

Public soybean varieties are developed by state and/or federal institutions. Virtually all public varieties grown in North Dakota were developed at the University of Minnesota Experiment Station. The most popular was Dawson which accounted for 8.2 percent of the total acreage. Evans was next with 6.3 percent of the acreage, followed closely by Ozzie, with 6.0 percent of the total acreage.

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