As we noted last week, Tom Fowler, Horticulture Specialist with the
University of Missouri Extension Service, took data on a large tomato
planting in both 2013 and 2014. His study included 47 different
varieties in 2013, including those that some of our K-State Research &
Extension Master Gardeners test for us. The test was repeated in 2014,
but some varieties were lost due to cold weather. Also, not all
varieties tested last year were tested this year and so we ended up with
21 that were tested both years. Of those, only 16 were slicing
tomatoes. This week we will look at total yield.
The top ten varieties for total yield are listed below. We have
included the top 10 for 2013, the top for 2014, and the top when these
two years are combined. We will only consider those tomatoes which were
grown both years. We did not include cherry tomatoes or other small
fruited types such as Roma. Weight is given in pounds. We had 16
varieties that met these criteria.
2013
Number Variety Weight
1 Big Beef 135.8
2 Beefmaster 134.8
3 Red Bounty 115.4
4 Black Krim 114.2
5 Scarlet Red 107.6
6 Supersonic 102.2
7 Rutgers 102.0
8 Jet Star 100.0
9 Celebrity 96.0
10 Hy Beef 93.6
2014
Number Variety Weight
1 Celebrity 73.0
2 Crista 70.4
3 Jet Star 59.0
4 Beefmaster 54.2
5 Hy Beef 52.8
6 Rutgers 47.0
7 BHN 961 46.8
8 Supersonic 45.0
9 Florida 91 41.8
10 Red Bounty 39.8
2013 & 2014
Number Variety Weight
1 Beefmaster 189.0
2 Celebrity 169.0
3 Big Beef 166.6
4 Jet Star 159.0
5 BHN 961 157.6
6 Red Bounty 155.2
7 Crista 153.6
8 Rutgers 149.0
9 Supersonic 147.2
10 Hy Beef 146.4
Note that we combined both years and took the total weight of
fruit. The data is interesting with Big Beef being the top variety in
2013, but not even making the list in 2014. Also, though Amana Orange
is consistently our largest tomato, yield is so low it did not make the
top 10 in yield for either year. (Ward Upham)
