Resolution: Make a Written Corn Management Plan
When it comes to managing your corn for more yield, the most glaring problem is ‘where do I begin?’ The variables are many – temperature, planting depth, planting population, fertilizer timing, fertilizer application method, sunlight, wind, nutrients, rainfall….the list just goes on and on. And many of those variables are out of your control. So where to begin?
January is a great time for making resolutions. I suggest first setting a goal – that over the next five years, you’d like to manage your corn well enough to raise your corn average by X number of bushels. Now, WRITE YOUR GOAL DOWN.
Next, select one or two of the variables that you do have control over, and write up a plan to experiment with them this coming growing season. Vary the fertilizer rate or application. Push the populations in several “hot streak” trials. Don’t be afraid to try some different practices in strip trials. But, be sure to document what you’re trying and where.
Now, resolve to manage your corn crop this coming year by learning from it. Mark your calendar to perform a post-planting and pre-harvest evaluation. That is what better management is all about – experimenting with the variables that are within your control and then assessing the results.
The last thing you’ll need for your written plan? Promise yourself, in writing, that you will plant under 5mph. Excessive speed at planting is the number one culprit of poor corn stands. Resolve right now that it will not happen to you this coming spring.
Next spring, your post-planting evaluation should include stand counts as well as notes on both the stand and emergence. You’ll be able to give yourself a grade on the decisions you made regarding planting depth and speed by what you see in your stands. And if your stand is good, you’ll remember that written plan you made back in January to plant at a consistently slow rate and you’ll be glad you made it.
In the fall, be certain to evaluate each field pre-harvest. This evaluation is meant to be far, far more than just an idea of this year’s yield. Instead, when done properly, it should tell you whether your corn reached its full potential, given the soil and nutrients it had to work with. Check four of five spots of the field. What is the ear count/acre – it should be within 1,500 ears of your intended planted rate. Is there indication of aborted ears? If so, speculate as to why. What does the ear tip tell you? Do the ears indicate there were nutrients to spare (meaning it could have supported a higher population) or a deficit of resources?
Next fall, make another written management plan to help you remember what you’d like to try next year. If your pre-harvest evaluation indicated that you perhaps had a surplus of nutrients, try planting a portion of your field at a higher population – or several different populations. If the ear count / acre was not within 1,500 ears of the intended planting rate, do some serious thinking about how to get a better stand – the most likely culprit is planter speed. Slow down next spring!
One last thing: Be certain that you don’t “learn” the wrong thing. We have a lot of extremes in this region. If we have the driest or wettest or hottest or coldest season in memory, some of what you see will likely not apply in the subsequent seasons. If your best hybrid from the past 3 years shows a weakness that you’ve never seen before, or if a hybrid that has been just so-so “wins” all the plots, consider whether the environmental conditions causing that performance are likely to be repeated.
Make a written corn management plan – it will help you reach your goals.
Adam Spelhaug is our Agronomy Manager at Peterson Farms Seed, and writes a monthly column in the Dakota Farmer
