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Coldwater, Michigan | Jim,
The replications across a field are the only way you will know how a product/ or practice is working in the real world. I don't really care whether you use a big machine or a 4 row plot planter, you still need to have the replications, and they need to go far enough across the length of the field to have some meaning to the real world. 20 foot University trials are a great way to sort large numbers of tests, but a poor way to predict product performance on a field basis.
When I have the Universities do work for me, I try to convince them to use at least 700-800 feet, then replicated.
A side-by-side trial in a field is mearly an observation. From a yield comparison, it is a crapshoot! Replication is the only thing that is useful; and even then, you sometimes get junk for results. The tough part of that is to know when you actually have junk! That isn't always easy. Then how do you explain it to others?
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