Stewart Seeds Soybeans Home Page

The Eight Year Wait
Narrowing thousands of potential lines into perhaps only one new Variety is an eight year process. Although every genetic line tested has the potential to be the best, an amazing 99% of the lines tested will fail to meet the criteria necessary to become a commercial Variety.

Seven Seeds
Selecting Soybean Varieties for testing starts by selecting the Stewart Research

characteristics that are most important to assure top yields in Indiana and Ohio farm fields. Once a potential plant line is selected for testing, it is first grown in small numbers inside our nursery. Selection of the genetic cross to be tested is based on knowledge of the characteristics of each parent.

Seven seeds from each parent cross are sent to Chile in South America for winter planting and harvest. These seven Hybrids contain the combined genetic potential of the parents. Up to 3,500 seeds from each of the original seven plants are then returned to our facilities in Indiana for planting the following spring.

Recognizing Potential
This type of research program testing identifies the genetic variation that exists within this potential line of plants. The next three generations of plant growth in Indiana and Chile are used to continue characteristic variation evaluation. The seed used in Chile and here is selected like the seed from the first seven plants, but in much larger quantity. Each growth cycle is key in narrowing the selection process and preparing for the advanced testing stages.

The Seventh Inning Stretch
The plant line developed by cross-pollination can for the first time be considered an experimental Variety. Nearly 90% of these Varieties will be eliminated at this stage of the research process. The preliminary yield trial stage begins in the summer of the fourth year and another 90% will no longer be tested once these yield results are evaluated.

Purification Testing
After the second year of yield testing in 12 to 14 locations throughout Indiana and Ohio, seed selection for plant consistency begins. Seed pods from individual plants within the Variety are selected for final testing. Uniformity in flower color, plant height and other characteristics results from the careful selection of seed at this stage.

The Final Exam
During the next to last year of testing, the best experimental Variety is The Best!

selected and the seed purified for consistency. The Variety is then placed in 10 to 15 final test locations. In the final year before release, the Variety is planted in one acre block increases and at thirty separate test locations.

The Final Decision
Eight years have passed. Thousands of potential lines have been tested. Hundreds of thousands of plants have been grown and only a select few become a commercial Soybean Variety. Truly they are "The Best Of The Best".