Comparison of Roundup Ready and Conventional Soybean (Glycine Max L.) Weed Control Systems for Optimizing Yield and Economic Profitability

Research was conducted in 2010, 2011 and 2012 at the East Tennessee Research and Education Center in Knoxville, TN, in order to compare differences in soybean yield among differing levels of weed control within Roundup Ready® [Glyphosate-resistant] (RR)and conventional soybean cultivars to gain a better understanding of the impact different intensities of weed control have on RR and conventional cropping systems. Results determined that after applying the weed control regimens, there was no significant difference (p

Glyphosate resistant weeds introduce new challenges and create a more costly weed control regimen, especially when using a RR based soybean cultivation operation. Therefore, calculated economic returns of RR and conventional weed management technologies used in this study were contrasted to determine profitability of each system. In a glyphosate resistant-free environment, the conventional soybean cultivar had a net return of only 0.4% greater than that of the RR cultivar. The comparison of cultivar net return and yield indicates conventional soybean production is competitive to RR productions, however the tremendous use of RR technologies leaves conventional crops vulnerable to potential damage or death due to drift. If glyphosate resistant weeds are present in an environment, RR production and hand hoeing may be the best choice for weed control.