Look for discoloration around the nodes and internodes. Pinch the lower stalk internodes and if they easily give or collapse, stalk rot-induced lodging may be a concern later. Another method is to walk along and push on stalks to see if they give or collapse. When grain is ready, time harvest to reduce or minimize the risk of yield losses as a result of premature death, stalk rot and lodging. The yield figure that is recorded is what was produced in the area measured for this growing season at a specific location.
Many farmers like to look at data as they make buying decisions for the next growing season.
It is very risky to look at single location data. This may be a plot of several products or a comparison of a couple. A hybrid or variety that is in a plot more than once can give you an idea of the variability in the plot. If performance of this duplicated hybrid or variety is fairly uniform, the differences between products listed may be true. If performance of this hybrid or variety varies considerably, the differences between products could be due to environmental factors having a greater influence than genetic differences.