Corn Populations
It’s been talked about a lot during the winter months. Increasing corn seeding rates is probably the most significant, single input in your farming operation that will bring more profit per acre. The new corn genetics and technology traits sold today have a far greater yield advantage at higher populations. University agronomists agree that increasing seeding rates has been paramount to increasing yields – and more profitable for the grower.
This combination of superior genetics and advanced traits allows the plant to withstand more stress – both environmental and cultural. We’ve seen consistent yield increases of six or more bushels by just ratcheting up the rate by 2000 seeds per acre. And as a bonus, you don’t need to increase your fertilizer rates just because there are more plants per acre. Each corn plant produces a consistent ear size with very little to no “blanking” on marginal soils.
Of course, most growers will want to see for themselves before they are convinced that today’s corn plant is vastly different than those hybrids planted just a few years ago. So we are offering a program this spring that will demonstrate the yield advantage on your own farm. Ask your Heritage-Diener sales rep for more details.
So before you get in a hurry to plant all your corn acres, do some side by side comparisons of your normal seeding rate and one that is 2000 or more seeds/acre higher. Don’t miss this opportunity to see how much yield you can achieve by increasing your seeding rates on your farm.
Corn Planting Progress
Cool and wet weather in March and April has slowed corn planting, but it’s still early in the game. We won’t start realizing a yield reduction until mid May and even that “rule of thumb” is contested in years when the corn was planted “late” and we still ended up with a bumper crop. The important lesson here is to not rush into wet fields and make things worse. Mistakes made at planting generally haunt you all season long. Recall that corn needs about 100 GDD (growing degree days) in order to emerge. The total GDD’s for the month of April (up to April 24) has been approximately 50 (recorded at Purdue University Agronomy farm). If corn had been planted on April 1 it still wouldn’t be up given the low GDD totals so far.
Don’t Forget the Refuge
An Insect Resistance Management (IRM) plan is mandated by the USEPA and a requirement for purchasing any corn seed with a YieldGard Corn Borer or YieldGard Rootworm trait, which includes the popular triple-stack and VT3 hybrids. A key component of an IRM plan is to plant a non-Bt corn refuge in or near the field of Bt-traited corn. For all triple-stack and VT3 hybrids, plant up to 80% of the corn acres with the triple-stack product and the remaining 20% with a non-Bt Roundup Ready Corn 2 hybrid in the same or adjacent field. This is the easy part. The hard part is deciding how to protect the non-Bt refuge corn from rootworm larvae. In areas of the Midwest where corn rootworm pressure is high to very high, the best option is to use a planter-applied soil insecticide, such as Aztec, Force, Fortress, etc. If, however, the planter is not equipped with insecticide boxes or designed to apply liquid insecticides in the row, then use Poncho 1250 seed treatment for the refuge corn.
Be safe this spring
Dan Childs, Agronomist
