•age 12—Corn Talk, Lancaster Farming, Saturday, October 10, 1998
P)
(Continued from Page 10)
shank, and other damage from
the larvae.
The feeding can affect com
nutrient uptake (causing a pur
pling of the upper stalk), can
introduce fungus and other dis
eases, and can also, more
importantly, cause the ears to
drop and fall off as a result of
damage to the ear shank.
The Bt varieties, however,
remained largely unaffected by
the borer. Most stands looked
healthy.
For the grower who is pro
ducing grain, the Bt varieties
could mean enormous savings
in terms of less lodged com and
unharvested ears. But for silage
producers, the advantages of
paying the extra premium for
the transgenic com may be
questionable.
“Is there an economic advan
tage to paying extra dollars for
Bt seed com?” Swartz said.
“My guess is that, in some
years, if will pay off and some it
won’t.”
The reasons: there are a lot of
variables in the growing sea
son, including weather, soil
conditions, pest and weed load,
variety selection, and other
concerns that could affect the
yield.
One of several lest areas
across the slate, the Bt and non-
Bt comparisons will shed some
light about how yield is
affected and the quality of grain
that is produced.
TTiis year has been a year of
stark contrasts compared to
1997. Rainfall came at critical
times, including silking and ear
growth, in mid-summer to help
the crop along.
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“We’ve had adequate mois
ture,” said Swartz. “We had a
lot of rainfall in the spring.
Though we could use some
right now.” Conditions were
droughty for most growers
throughout the state last grow
ing season.
Swartz said, during the days
he scouted in September, that
“the crops looks good for the
most part a lot better than
last year.” The test plots
involved several that were no
till. One has been no-tilled the
past nine years.
Most of the Bt varieties con
trolled the com borer. There
were also check plots planted to
non-Bt com.
On one 200-acrc farm (about
half in com) managed by Tom
Oyler in Gettysburg, the soil
has been no-tilled continuously
for eight years. The fields make
use of Roundup Read and Bt,
some in stacked configurations,
on the test plots. The com stood
at 9-10 feet high.
There was some feeding
damage on the non-Bt com
from second generation borer.
The borer chews into the stalk,
leaving residue on the outside,
and can move up or down, feed
ing away, at the center of the
stalk. When the stalks turn dry
in the fall, they can break or
lodge. This downed com can
have a significant effect on
grain yields.
In other fields on different
test sites, there was shank dam
age caused to com, which
caused the ears to droop and fall
off prematurely —this can also
significantly affect grain yield.
Also, some ears on other
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some cases, right into the
kernels.
The com was planted mid-
May. It was the third year the
field was planted to com.
On the farm operated by Lee
Horst in Gettysburg, about 126
acres are in com and about 133
acres in beans. This is the first
year that Horst has used Bt
com.
This year they planted about
22 acres in Bt com, including
some Roundup Ready Bt. Horst
noted he is looking at applica
tions at his farm for the
“stacked gene” varieties.
The Horsts, including Lee’s
son Arvin, use minimum till
(chisel plow) and use turkey
manure. They obtain their man
ure from a 10,000-bird opera
tion under contract for
Wampler.
Lee noted that there could be
a 7-14 bushel per acre differen
tial between using or not using
Bt com for grain.
Because of the mild winter,
Horst expected a lot of over
wintering of the insect, but
noted “this year doesn’t look
any worse than any other year.”
The Horsts, last year, harvested
about 40 bushels of com per
acre as a result of the drought
conditions.
This year, they could harvest
about 150 bushels per acre.
At the Richard Adams farm
in Gettysburg, some second
generation com borer damage
was evident. Some ear shank
Ham age was evident and sec
tions of ears were eaten by the
borer.
The Adams farm had 16
rows of Bt and 16 of non-Bt
hybrids in a replicated format
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was used on the dairy. The com
was planted the third Saturday
in May.
Richard noted that be, along
with brother Ed, farm about 120
acres of com, some for cash
grain. They have about 100
cows on the dairy.
Growers should examine the
tradeoffs for cost versus need
In other fields on different test sites, there was
shank damage caused to corn, which caused the ears
to droop and fall off—this can also significantly effect
grain yield.
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and see if Bt varieties could be
used on their farm.
For growers, Swartz said, “if
you’ve had good luck with a
certain variety, maybe you
could use non-Bt variety,” he
said. “Does it justify a com
grower to spend more money
for Bt com?”
Additional research may tell
AJ GLEANER'
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