The Turner team Roy Scott, Agricultural Experiment Station soybean breeder, suggests growers in and around Turner County in the southeastern part of the state consider recently released 'Turner' as their variety choice. It is resistant to race three of the soybean cyst nematode and has excellent yield in both infested and non-infested fields. Developed by the South Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station, certified seed for Turner should be available for spring planting in 2001. With Turner, as with most new crop varieties, progressing from greenhouse to farmer's drill box takes 8 or 10 years for breeding and testing and another 2 years for seed increase. And it takes the teamwork of scientists from multiple research specialties.
Farmers are part of the team.
In round-table discussions, they tell the scientists what special characteristics they want in a new variety. When seed is available, a special group of growers plants and increases the variety so it can be sold to farmers in sufficient quantities to meet planting demands. Development of the variety also depends heavily on the financial support of farmers through check-off dollars on each bushel sold. These funds supplement public tax support at land-grant universities for research and Extension work. Tracking the development of Turner, one of many crop varieties released by SDSU over the years, reveals this teamwork.