Advances in biotechnology within the last decade have caused dramatic changes in agricultural production systems. In Mississippi, over 60% of the soybean hectarage was planted to glyphosate-resistant soybean in the 2001 production season. One advantage of glyphosate-resistant systems may be that fields with fewer weeds at harvest result in less foreign material and lower seed moisture due to less foreign material. Research was conducted to assess the foreign matter and moisture content of representative glyphosate-resistant and conventional soybean by evaluating elevator receipts collected from soybean producers in the southern and midwestern United States. A survey of growers using glyphosate-resistant and conventional soybean was conducted during the fall and winter of 2000. Copies of elevator receipts were collected to compare the foreign matter percentage and moisture content of soybean in both categories. A total of 16,535 ha were represented, of which 13,903 were from glyphosate-resistant soybean and 2,632 were from conventional soybean. Average foreign matter content from the glyphosate-resistant soybean was 1.9%, compared with 2.5% from the conventional soybean. Thus, the glyphosate-resistant program reduced foreign matter, an indication of reduced weed seed and trash contained in the sample or improved harvest efficiency. No difference was noted in seed moisture content between the two systems.

Nomenclature: Soybean, Glycine max (L.) Merr.

Additional index words: Crop quality.

Abbreviations: fb, followed by.