Page 12—Corn Talk, Lancaster Farming, Saturday, October -12, 1996
(Continued from Page 1)
tions that use narrow row tech
nology in vegetables or other
crops have been successful as
far away as Michigan.
At Groffs farm, Roth spoke
about the challenges growers
face when trying narrow row
com.
“Most of the com we grow in
Pennsylvania and the com- pro
ducing states is grown on
30-inch rows,” said Roth. ‘To
some folks that is narrow row
com.” Rows measured 36-38
inches 15-20 years ago. In the
years since, row spacing was
reduced to 30 inches to make
fields more productive.
Today’s com varieties have
the potential to work with nar
row rows. To do so, equipment
has to be modified at planting
and harvest to accommodate
narrower rows.
At Groffs farm, a field that
used to be in alfalfa was planted
with narrow row com, 15
inches wide. Theoretically, said
Roth, the narrow row com
should provide early season
growth and higher yields. Many
growers have experienced a 5-6
percent grain yield increase as a
result of using narrow rows.
Producers have seen a 10 per
cent increase in yields for com
silage.
“Now we’re at the point
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Producers Try Narrow Row Corn
where it’s time for producers
like Steve and other folks to try
this system on their farms,” said
Roth.
The advantages of narrow
row com include earlier canopy
of the ground, which would
help retain soil moisture and
control weed growth. Other
potential benefits include
decreased soil erosion and
increased nutrient uptake.
“It makes sense that we
might be able to benefit from a
system that captures more light
and shades the ground,” he
said.
Also, nutrient uptake per
acre is about 10 percent higher,
“kind of important for folks
interested in nutrient manage
ment and wanting a com crop
that takes up as much nutrients
as possible,” he said.
A conventional planting of
field com has populations on
30- inch rows to about
30,000-32,000 plants per acre.
Narrow row com density is
about 38,000-42,000 plants per
acre.
In many cases, producers can
simply use a 30-inch planter
and double back on the rows.
The only drawbacks could be in
harvesting the material.
“Harvesting is a little bit
more of a challenge,” said
Roth. “Generally, even harvest-
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ing these plots the last few
years, I don’t find a whole lot of
problems.”
Equipment can be modified
in a machine shop for
$3,000-$4,000. Amortizing of
equipment costs can be done at
$5 per acre planting and $S for
harvesting.
A drawback could be the
higher starter fertilizer costs
since more product is necessary
to accommodate more com in
narrower rows.
Also, for farmers using
insecticide or starter fertilizer,
“you might be looking at
50-100 percent more cost
there,” or about $5-$ 10 per acre
additionally for narrow row,
Roth noted.
Roth said that for silage com,
producers have adapted their
equipment to narrow row com
accordingly. They use a Ger
man rotary head that fits on a
self-propelled chopper.
But narrow row com has
benefits beyond yield.
“Some farmers in Maryland
I’ve talked to say that if you get
a windstorm or something, the
stalks can sort of lay against
one another. And they have
said, if anything, they feel it’s
not that big of a problem.”
Roth said he hears encourag
ing results from farmers. “I’m
looking forward to seeing what
kind of results we get here. I
think this could be promising.”
Bob Anderson, Lancaster
County crops agent, said that
“many of us, for many years,
have been looking at whatever
we can do to maximize our
yields.” But while many people
think that more inputs are
necessary foryields, the reverse
may be true that too many
inputs can hurt yields.
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tinues to examine what field
inputs are needed and to adjust
the rate of fertilizers
accordingly.
Also, according to Ander
son, work is under way to mea
sure what those crops need.
Anderson spoke about the
use of a chlorophyll meter that
measures the level of the chem
ical substance in the com leaf to
determine the nitrogen needs of
the crop. Using that technolo
gy, the Groff com had suffi
cient nitrogen for a good yield.
Because the com was rotated
from alfalfa, there was no root
worm damage. However, in
late July, European com borer
was damaging some com in the
field.