nd-crops

NEWS RELEASE                                        Soybean Varieties
                                                    September 4, 2003

                    2003 NORTH DAKOTA SOYBEAN VARIETIES

Over 350 soybean varieties were reported planted on the 3.10 million acres
in North Dakota this year. Herbicide resistant varieties were planted on 74
percent of North Dakota's soybean acreage, compared to 10.5 percent in
1999. Public varieties were planted on 8.6 percent of the acreage, down
from the 19.6 and 32.2 percent in 1999 and 1994, respectively. In contrast,
privately developed varieties planted increased to 91.4 percent of the
acres. Sixteen private soybean developers had their varieties planted on
one percent or more of North Dakota's soybean acreage. Five years ago nine
private seed developers met that level.

North Dakota soybean acreage has substantially grown within the last
decade. Soybeans now cover 3.10 million acres of North Dakota's cropland,
compared to 640,000 acres in 1994. Soybean production was forecasted at 101
million bushels as of August 1, 2003, a 16 percent increase over last
year's record setting 86.8 million bushels.

Private Varieties

The top seven planted soybean varieties in the state were privately
developed. The top variety was Asgrow AG0801, accounting for 8.3 percent of
the planted acreage. Pioneer Hybrids held spots two through six with
varieties 90B51, 90B74, 90B11, 91B03 and 9071, respectively. In seventh was
Dekalb DKB06-51 covering 2.0 percent of the planted acreage. Pioneer 9071,
with 2.5 percent of the seeded acreage, was the only conventional variety
to reach the top seven. Five years ago, Pioneer 9071 was the leading
variety planted, with 26.4 percent of the state's soybean acreage. Pioneer
developed soybeans accounted for 22.3 percent of North Dakota soybean
acreage, compared to 42.2 percent in 1999.

Public Varieties

Jim was the leading public variety planted in 2003, with 1.9 percent of the
total planted acreage. The herbicide resistant RG200RR, at 1.7 percent,
placed second ahead of Traill, at 1.4 percent, to finish out the top three
publicly developed varieties. In 1999, Traill was the leading public
variety as well as number two overall with 4.4 percent of the planted
acres.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Doug Hartwig, State Statistician
North Dakota Agricultural Statistics Service
NDSU, IACC Bldg., Room 448
P.O. Box 3166
Fargo, ND 58108-3166
Telephone: (701) 239-5306
E-Mail: nass-nd@nass.usda.gov
Internet: http://www.nass.usda.gov/nd/