'age 22—Com Talk, Lancaster Farming, Saturday, January 29,
LESSONS LEARNED
FROM LAST
SEASON
One of the most interesting
aspects of crop production is
that each year provides us with
some experiences that can help
us improve production in the
years to come.
Com production in 1993 was
no exception. In this column,
I’d like to review some of my
observations from 1993 and the
implications for the future.
The stage was set for the
1993 season with heavy snow
fall in March followed by a
very wet April. Wet soils
resulted in planting delays and
some growers switched to no
till to try to catch up once plant
ing started.
There were plenty of oppor
tunities for tillage or planting
on wet ground. No-till fields
that had combinations of low
overwinter levels of residue
and were planted early had poor
early season vigor. I am con
vinced that poor soil structure,
due to a combination of plant
ing a little too wet and the heavy
spring rains on exposed soils
over winter, had an effect on
crop growth and yields in 1993.
These observations reinforce
the concept that no-till planting
needs to be delayed until soils
arc dry enough and that one of
the roles of crop residue is to
protect it from the effects of
excessive rainfall.
Later in May, conditions fol
lowing planting became quite
dry for many. This resulted in
poor or uneven emergence of
shallow planted com. Shallow
(one inch deep) seeding depths
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are probably only justified ear
ly in the season, where no
Prowl applications are planned,
where equipment is in good
condition, and planting speed is
not too fast. Under most condi
tions, I'A - to 2-inch planting
depths will perform well.
Several veteran no-tillcrs I
visited with this year, however,
claimed they have good success
in no-till with deeper planting
depths, in the 2- to 2'A -inch
range. They claim more consis
tent emergence under variable
soil moisture and residue con
ditions and higher planting
speeds.
Large field to field variations
in yields were common this
year, due not only to soil struc
ture problems, but also to soil
depth, stoniness, and whether
that extra summer shower
passed by. Many of these things
affect the water supply to the
crop, which for many was the
most limiting factor in 1993.
1 found variations of up to 50
bushels per acre with the same
hybrid planted on the same day
in fields that were less than a
mile apart. One implication of
this kind of variation is that the
ficld-10-field comparisons of
hybrid performance that we all
like to make arc not that valu
able this year.
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Many growers were frus
trated with the level of weed
control obtained with the
preemergence weed control
programs, due mostly to a lack
of rainfall following applica
tion. Most of those who opted
to follow up with a post
emergence program made a
good decision. Without it, some
fields were inundated with
grassy weeds because of the
short com and open canopy. In
these situations, the effects of
drought stress were increased
and com yields were really
depressed.
One aspect of early season
weed control is timely detec
tion of the problem. Too often,
we wait to take action when the
weeds become visible from the
roadside. By that lime, some of
the damage is done and the
weeds arc often harder to con
trol. This experience should
confirm to us that early season
weed scouting and control is
important and timely action can
reduce potential yield losses.
Several of us have been
working with various cover
crops, including rye, for use in
com silage production. Often
we have seen a yield reduction
associated with planting into
tall rye that has cither been
killed or plowed under. These
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yield reductions have often
been attributed to poor stands,
insect damage, or toxic effects
from the decaying rye.
Research results have generally
indicated that these effects can
be avoided by killing or plow
ing under the rye before it is
more that 12 inches tall.
I visited several com silage
producers using an carly-kill
rye system and saw some of the
best com of the year. This con
firmed to me that rye can be
used effectively to control ero
sion, take up excess nutrients,
and protect the soil with no
impact on yields, provided it is
managed properly.
I’ve also been watching sev
eral local fields that have been
seeded down with a spring oats
cover crop. These fields have
stayed green up at least until
Christmas. Oats arc probably
an underutilized cover crop that
would be good for early
harvested com silage fields.
The low cost of establishment,
the lack of spring growth, and
no need for a bumdown herbi
cide in the spring are all advan
tages of an oat cover crop
system.
The seed industry has started
talking more about the benefits
of biotechnology, particularly
in the areas of com borer con
trol, improved grain quality,
and herbicide resistance.
I had an opportunity to visit a
lest field where some of the
European com borer-resistant
materials were being grown.
The normal hybrids had about
50-75 percent broken stalks,
but the resistant materials very
virtually undamaged.
Questions still remain about
the yield competitiveness,
potential for insect resistance,
and public acceptance of these
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hybrids. If these can be over
come, this will definitely result
in increased yields for those
areas where com borers are a
common problem.
. On another trip, I viewed
sortie soybeans resistant to
Roundup and the seed company
claimed Roundup-resistant
com may be here by the year
2000. Imagine the impact this
could have on weed control
programs. It appears the tre
mendous investment in
biotechnology by the seed
industry may starting to bear
some fruit that could have some
large effects on yields and how
we grow com.
Last but not least, I had the
opportunity to visit a grower in
western New York who has
gone to 15-inch rows with a
42,000-planl population on 400
acres of silage com. He’s been
seeing a 3 lon/acre advantage
more than enough to cover
extra seed and machinery costs.
Is there potential for this
approach in Pennsylvania?
More formal research is under
way at Cornell and Penn State
to confirm this, since narrower
rows would have other benefits
as well better weed control,
less soil erosion, and more
nutrient uptake.
There were a lot of other
things in 1993 to talk about:
new herbicides, trashwhccls,
$3-plus com, and many more
experiences I’m sure each of
you could share.
These are exciting times in
com production, and there con
tinues to be many new products
and ideas out there to challenge
us in the years ahead. The key
to success for all of us will be to
carefully evaluate this new
technology here in our unique
com production systems.
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