Planting

Variable Rate Corn Seeding Considerations

Source: Alexander Lindsey, Peter Thomison, Emerson Nafziger

As producers are planning their seed needs for next year, it is important to think about acreage, hybrids, and seeding rates. Finding the best corn seeding rate is important for efficient production, but the “optimum” corn seeding rate – the one that maximizes profitability – can vary within and among fields with small differences in soils and weather. While adoption of variable rate technology is increasing, there are still questions related to how this technology will impact seeding rates, profitability, and be impacted by yield level compared to using a uniform (or fixed) seeding rate with modern hybrids. In order to help estimate the profitability of variable rate corn seeding in the US Corn Belt, we used results of 93 seeding rate trials in Ohio (2012-2016) to see how variable the response to seeding rates was, and to see if factors like yield level might help us do a better job of setting plant populations.

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Knox County Crop Conditions

Perfect time to grow corn

by: Chuck Martin, Mount Vernon News

 

The right weather at the right time, along with the right management by farmers, and the crops will respond.

That, essentially, is what has happened with the corn crop so far this year, said Knox County Ohio State University Extension Educator John Barker.

“There was a time, early, when there was a little concern about planting because it was so wet,” he said, “but most of the fields got planted and with the combination of heat and moisture, the corn just took off.”

Some fields were even tasseling out by July 4.

“That’s what we want to see,” said Barker. “The old adage of corn needing to be “knee high by the Fourth of July” is from a time when corn was often not planted as early.

“At one time many farmers didn’t think about planting until May 1, now they expect to be done by May 1.”

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Young Corn with Wet Feet: What Can We Expect?

by: Alexander Lindsey, Peter Thomison, Steve Culman, OSU Extension

Around the state, there are many corn fields with young plants with standing water due to the intense storms that have passed through. But what are the long-term effects of standing water on emerged corn? Preliminary data from two locations in Ohio in 2017 suggests that as long as a sidedress N application can be made following the waterlogging, yield loss may be minimal if the waterlogged conditions lasted 4 days or less.

Waterlogging can affect yield in two main ways: 1) damage to the plant physiologically, and 2) N loss through denitrification or leaching. The presence of standing water in the field can affect corn yield by inhibiting growth and restricting ear development (which occurs during vegetative stages). Standing water also reduces the amount of oxygen in the soil, which can cause nitrate in the soil to be converted to forms that are unavailable for plant uptake and may be lost to the environment. Trials in Ohio conducted in 2017 suggest that corn can survive waterlogged conditions for 4 days or less in the early vegetative stages (V4-5) with minimal impact on yield if a sidedress application can be made after the soil has dried. However, if a sidedress application cannot be made on corn waterlogged for 4 days or more, a yield penalty of 13 to 45% was observed. When waterlogging extended to 6 days even with a sidedress N application, a reduction in yield of 9-33% was observed compared to corn flooded for 4 days or less. These results are consistent with past research (10-50% yield loss if flooded longer than 2 days), but will be repeated in 2018 for validation.

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