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ROCK AND ROLL AGROMONY Evaluating Practices and Products That Influence Corn Yields This past year showed some interesting observations that already have impacted some corn production before 2007 gets planted. I would like to go through some of that research that was conducted by Croplan Genetics and Agriliance in their Answer Plots across the region, which showcased hybrids and research for growers and dealers. Plot locations included Minot, Jamestown, Fessenden, Fairmount, and Kindred in N.D. and East Grand Forks and Cyrus Minn. CRW corn: better roots, better drought stress? But where we did have them in either demo or research locations, there was some very visual symptomatic differences. When planting time came and if the ground was somewhat wet, it caused open planter slot and sidewall smearing. This resulted in plants with an underdeveloped root system, not a good setup for the weather stress to come – when it became dry and then hot, a corn plant had better have a good root system to maintain yields. Some hybrids, although not all, of the genetics with the CRW gene showed large positive differences in plant health and yield, compared to the same hybrids without the CRW gene. Some hybrids looked like totally different plants (see photo 1). Most of the corn in Fairmount that was CRW alongside its non-CRW relative tasseled five days earlier. My opinion of the trait is that it aids in developing a bigger root mass that was better able to handle the dry conditions, even in the absence of corn rootworm.
Table 1. Comparison of CRW/non CRW corn hybrids at two locations
The weather conditions were very dry in Jamestown and extreme heat at tasseling and silking made for lower yields than in Kindred. Here is an example of triple stack corn doing well in one environment (238TS, Jamestown) and par in another.
Hybrid response to zinc The data was interesting yet tough to pinpoint any certain trends. Soil test levels were taken and ranged from .03 to 2.1 ppm across all the fields. Take into account that these were either side by side or split field situations. Some varieties were very consistent in that they almost always showed a positive response to the treatment, regardless of soil test zinc level. Some of the yield increases were very substantial, with advantages up to13 bu/ac. However, the same could be said for non-responsive hybrids. They consistently showed no benefit to the treatment or a yield loss. My conclusions with this product were that its response was mostly due to the hybrid it was put on, more so than the soil zinc level. The only trend that I could pick out was that the zinc responsive varieties had genetic backgrounds that produced larger root structure and volume. On the average, most of the corn treated with Advanced Coating Zn emerged earlier and some plots showed very visual differences. To me it proved that zinc is very important to corn production, and we should be looking more hybrid specific instead of just either treating or not treating based on soil test levels. We’ll be doing more work in 2007 with coatings and micros, along with timings.
Response to Headline fungicide
Corn planted in North Dakota and Minnesota did see a response to the use of Headline, but maybe not as large as corn farmers in Indiana, Missouri or farther south. Next season the goal is to look at different genetics to see if there are differences in hybrids to fungicide applications. Data shows that corn in the southern U.S. has a much greater chance of seeing a response, like 20-25 bushel, as compared to our northern hybrids which generally see a 3-9 bushel response. In between those areas are numbers that float in the middle. Most of our data across locations did show the same trend, that the farther north you plant corn, the response to Headline isn’t as significant as in other areas of the country where climate and hybrids are different. I want to gather more data on Headline in 2007, with an emphasis to see if different hybrids respond differently. Different genetic, management scenarios We look at male genetics in the context of U.S. geography: Northern, Western, Eastern and Southern. A Northern is bred for cool tolerance, good emergence, good tolerance to lower fertility and other factors. A Western, think western Corn Belt, is bred for early flowering, able to handle drought stress and heat and high yield. Eastern (eastern Corn Belt) have strong disease packages, good standability and quick drydown. A Southern is adapted to lower populations, heat stress and very responsive to fertility. So we planned on incorporating the genetics with different fertility regiments, different populations and herbicide programs (table 2). Table 2. Corn Management Plots
The different management zones were set up to look at growers who plant corn into three different situations: 1) Low Management corn did not have a pre-emerge herbicide and its fertility plan was less. 2) Optimum Management was looking at the most common situation in regard to population and fertility. 3) The High Management incorporated higher fertility, population and extra herbicide on the pre-emergence side (figure 1).
It is tough to break out the data to show if response came from one particular factor such as fertility. Nevertheless, here are some observations from these demonstrations:
Hanson rocks and rolls as a certified crop advisor near Devils Lake, N.D. |
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rtilizer timings, amounts, weed control strategies, population
responses, micronutrients and other items like traits? 
