C6—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December 19,1981 '
Fla. agronomist tells how to grow 200 bushel coi
NEWARK, Del. A coi u plai.l is
capable of producing % pounds ui
gram per ear. At 30,000 plants to
the acre, that’s about 400 bushels.
Currently, with good management
and little luck, .growers who
irrigate in the Southeast are
getting between 200 and 300
bushels.
During the recent fifth annual
Delaware Irrigation Conference in
Dover, Florida Extension
agronomist Dave Wright described
his system for growing 200 plus
bushel corn.
Wright is an agronomy specialist
at the Agricultural Research and
Education Center in Quincy,
Florida, where extensive work has
been done with irrigated com over
, the past 12 years. During that tune,
yields have risen from 123 to up
ward of 300 bushels an acre.
The reason for this increase, he
said, was effective management of
inputs. Besides water, critical
.factors affecting yield are early
planting date; hybrids which have
' performed well in irrigated variety
trials; excellent insect, nematode
and weed control; plant
populations of 26,000 to 30,000 an
acre; proper tillage practices;
rotations; and, above all, a good
fertility program.
Skillful water management is
essential for efficient use of other
inputs, he said. He recommended
placing soil moisture blocks or ten
sionmeters in the ground to a depth
of six inches and 12 inches. Keep
soil watered to a depth of eight to
10 inches, since almost 90 percent
of the corn root system is in that
layer.
About one inch of water should
be applied per irrigation on sandy
coastal plain soils when the six
inch tensiometers read 20 cen
tibars. These gauges need
frequent, periodic checks,
especially in sandier soils, he
FLB loans top $2 billion
BALTIMORE The Federal
Land Bank of Baltimore (FLB)
has surpassed the financial
milestone of $2 billion in out
standing loans.
One of three banks comprising
the Farm Credit Banks of
Baltimore, the FLB provides long
term credit services to fanners
through its affiliated Federal Land
Bank Associations (FLBAs).
“While we are extremely
pleased to have reached this im
portant milestone, we feel it
represents even more to the
agricultural borrower,” Banks’
President Gene L. Swackhamer
noted. “It means that the Farm
Credit Banks have an enormous
stake in the area’s agriculture, and
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cautioned. Use the 12-inch ten
siometers to see whether you’re
over or underwatering.
“The water requirement of the
corn plant is the same regardless
of the soil it’s growing in,” said
Wright. “The bucket’s just bigger
in clay than it is in sand.” The most
critical period of water use is
during silking and ear f ill.
He advised setting several
tensionmeters (four to six) across
the pivot to make sure you’re
putting on what you think you are.
The sight or “toe test” doesn’t give
an accurate measure of soil
moisture you need to use a
gauge, he said. At 20 centibars the
soil may seem to be well
moistened, but tests have shown
that at this moisture level corn
roots are beginning to experience
some difficulty in absorbing water.
Watering when the six-inch ten
sionmeters read 20 centibars
resulted in about a 30-bushel yield
increase over 60-centibar soil
water tension.
In cases where an irrigation
system isn’t capable of delivering
enough water to an entire field
during critical periods, the
agronomist suggested farmers
plant half the field in corn and the
other half in soybeans. Water only
the corn until that crop is made.
Then you can water the soybeans
as needed.
Some growers go by ear ap
pearance or a black layer in
deciding when to stop irrigating
maturing' corn. Wright said
sometimes plants continue to
transpire even after com • looks
ripe. So he prefers to use a ten
siometer. That way you know when
the plant has actually stepped
taking up water. Com should then
be harvested promptly to avoid
loss to insects and the weather.
- Next to adequate water, proper
fertility is essential for top yields.
“You can do everything else right,
a strong commitment, to
agricultural service.”
The Farm Credit Banks of
Baltimore, which includes the
Federal Intermediate Credit Bank
(FICB), its affiliated Production
Credit Associations (PCAs), and
the Bank for Cooperatives .(BC)
serve fanners and agricultural
cooperatives in Maryland,
Delaware, Pennsylvania, Virginia,
West Virgina, and the Com
monwealth of Puerto Rico. These
states and Puerto Rico comprise
the Baltimore District of the
nationwide Farm Credit System.
The Baltimore Banks are the
largest private agricultural lender
in the District, with a combined
loan volume of nearly $3 billion.
7 but if you leave out one nutrient,
yoa- won’t make your yields,”
Wright said. “Know the crop’s
requirements." And soil test.
He recommended applying lime
six months before planting,
phosphorus before or at planting,
and zinc and manganese banded at
planting. Most of the nitrogen
should be sidedressed, along with
sulfur and boron, during the
growing season because these
materials are subject to leaching.
“We don’t incorporate when we
sidedress,” he said. “With
irrigation it’s not necessary-even
withno-till.”
Use of planter fertilizer resulted
in good growth response, silking
about a week earlier, earlier
maturity, and about a 15-bushel
increase in yield. This is similar to
test results reported in Delaware.
In work at the Quincy center,
tissue analysis showed that the
majority of potassium was taken
up within the first four to eight
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weeks of plant growth, he repor
ted. Later applicationswere of little
help. He recommended growefS
use this year’s tissue tests to
determine next year’s fertility
program, so deficiencies can be
avoided.
Nitrogen is critical to high
yields. This nutrient should be
scheduled for at least six ap
plications over the growing season,
along with a very small amount
(20) pounds to the acre) at planting
The reason for this is that the corn
plant needs only about five percent
of its total N uptake during the first
four weeks of growth. If large
amounts are put down at planting,
hard rains may leach this out,
leaving an insufficient amount for
high yields.
Based on work at Quincy, at
30,000 plants per acre corn needs
four pounds of nitrogen per acre
per day for top yields. If plants
look nitrogen-deficient at silking,
they can still take up about 150
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pounds between then and
maturity, he said.
Tillage practices also affected
yields, m work at the Quincy
center. Where traffic pans exist,
Wright said deep plowing to 10
inches or more has given yield
increases, as has under-the-row
subsoiling. No-till and minimum
till crops have done better in some
years on deep sand which blows
badly and dries out rapidly with in
row subsoiling.
He mentioned one study where
com, minimum-tilled into crimson
clover, yielded between 150 and 175
bushels without additional
nitrogen.
On the soil around Quincy he said
periodic bottom plowing was
needed to break up the shallow
traffic pan and also to control
weeds, insects and nematodes.
Close management of such
factors is the key in producing 220
to 300 bushels of com per acre
yeariy.hesaid.
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