Why a single test plot isn’t enough The age-old divide between
true research and on-farm trials still exists. Experts trying to
prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that one hybrid, one variety or
one practice is better than another want as many repeats of the
same trial as they can get. It’s about probability and
statistics. They want to be sure that yield differences they
might find are because of how they treated the plot, and not
just due to chance, perhaps caused by differences in soil type
or a host of other factors. Balance that against farmers trying
to get their crop in the ground. It’s what they get paid to do.
And repeating trials, especially small plot trials, takes time.
• Doing each treatment once is a demonstration, not a trial. •
Soil types or other factors can cause numbers to flip-flop. •
Ask questions about how a trial was done before drawing
conclusions. Still, they’re curious about what works on their
farm. They hear it repeatedly — test it on your own land. Only
trying say five populations i