Think of seed selection for next year as an opportunity for profit enhancement. With low commodity prices and higher input costs, identifying corn hybrids that are a good fit for your soil types and environmental conditions is more important than ever – and can give you a leg up on higher yields from the get-go next spring.
Here are eight top tips Farm Journal Field Agronomist Ken Ferrie offers that will help you in your seed corn selection process.
1. Put performance and yield performance above the price. Yes, seed corn is expensive, but focus on what the hybrid can deliver instead of how much cheaper one hybrid is over another and pencil out the potential ROI.
“If I ask a grower what hybrids he is going to plant and he reels off a list of maturity ranges, rather than specific hybrids or traits, I know he spent too much time looking for the best deal and too little time seeking the best performers,” Ferrie says.
2. Spread your risk. Midwest corn growers often plant their crop in five to seven days so don’t plant just one or two outstanding hybrids. That could create the unacceptable risk of all your corn pollinating at the same time and being subject to heat and other stresses that are present at that point.
“Not long ago, one hybrid had two big years, so growers planted a lot of it the following season,” Ferrie says. “Only then did they discover that the hybrid couldn’t handle 96°F temperatures during pollination and ear fill — it got kicked in the teeth on yield. That hybrid still won a lot of plots that year, but only in northern areas, where temperatures were cooler. If a disease problem had shown up, growers could have managed it by applying a fungicide; but you can’t manage against heat.”
3. Make new hybrids prove themselves. Don’t build your whole starting lineup for next season with hybrid rookies or one-hit wonders.
“Put a few of them on the bench, and keep them on a small number of acres until they prove their way,” Ferrie advises.
“Also, don’t throw out hybrids just because you’ve been told they’re old, and that the new kid is here to replace them. Keep those hybrids as long as they continue to perform, and make the new kids earn their way into the lineup through performance,” he adds.
Back to spreading risk — once your draft board is picked from multiple maturities, and are all-star performers, then group them into early- mid- and late-season hybrids so you have a large pool of hybrid candidates to choose from.
4. Use information from test plots. The purpose of test plots is to help guide your seed choices for next year. But you must know the right way to use the information.
“First, understand the difference between show plots and test plots,” Ferrie advises. “Don’t make your seed choices based only on show plots. Show plots have value in demonstrating higher-end genetics. But they are planted next to a road to show off hybrids in ideal conditions.
“Show plots may have received extra nitrogen and two fungicide applications. If you don’t sidedress nitrogen or apply fungicides on your own farm, show plot results may be meaningless to you.”
Study actual test plots that were planted with soil, climate and management practices similar to your own. Taking factors like these into account may add another 15 bu. or 20 bu. per acre, compared with picking hybrids based on general plot performance, Ferrie says.
Although test plots are valuable, it’s possible to rely on them too much, he cautions. “Weather makes hybrids shine,” he says. “Look at regional plot data over a period of years. It will tell you if a hybrid is not suited for your conditions, such as high temperatures.”
5. Make sure you are getting a mix of genetics. When analyzing test plot data, keep in mind that genetically identical hybrids may be marketed by several companies.
“I have seen growers plant the three or four top hybrids in local plots and then discover they all contained the same genetics, only from different companies,” Ferrie says. “That does not diversify risk.”
To avoid planting identical genetics from several companies, check the seed tags. Under the Federal Seed Act, companies are required to include the unique variety name (as opposed to the company’s brand name or number).
You also can ask your seedsman to help identify similar genetic lines sold by other companies. Or you can buy all your hybrids from one company.
6. Consider each field’s environment and match it to your hybrids. Look at each individual field and make a list of its strengths and weaknesses.
“We need to add players to the team that will help strengthen the weak areas in our present hybrid lineup,” Ferrie says. “In the process of truly identifying a field’s weaknesses and strengths, the farm management, operators, and the pest team must come together and compare notes.”
The reason to involve those various individuals or teams is because each one has a different perspective on what’s important and needed in a hybrid and in each specific field.
“Management may be looking at volume discounts or non-GMO contracts; whereas, the operating crew is looking at how tough it is to get corn up in a certain field or how quick it runs out of water in another. Likewise, the pest team may be concerned about diseases or resistant weeds that they are trying to control,” Ferrie explains.
7. Follow your plan and keep good records. “Often, I see growers lay out a nice plan, showing where each hybrid is going to go, based on soil conditions,” Ferrie says. “But in the stress of planting season, they fail to plant each hybrid where they intended.
“This leads to all kinds of unfavorable consequences. I’ve witnessed growers put a hybrid that resists deer damage next to a highway instead of next to their woods. Others plant herbicide-resistant hybrids where conventional hybrids were supposed to go, leading to misapplication of herbicides,” Ferrie says. “Losing track of which hybrids go where has caused some growers to plant their refuge hybrids without an insecticide.”
As you implement your plan, record keeping is critical.
“If planting conditions force you to deviate from your plan, be diligent in recording what you did. It will keep you from spraying a conventional hybrid with Roundup or Liberty herbicide or failing to apply an insecticide on conventional hybrids,” Ferrie says.
With newer planter monitors, you can build an as-applied map, showing what hybrid was planted in each field, on which date.
“If you have an older planter, you can record this information in a book in the tractor cab,” Ferrie says. “Some growers do both, in case they have a computer problem and lose some data.”
8. Make sure you utilize your best resource – your seedsman. Many farmers don’t use their seedsman enough, Ferrie contends.
He says there are a lot of good seedsmen out there, and they understand their products. Most have seen all of their hybrids under a variety of conditions and management styles, and they can relate that experience to your operation.
“Discuss your situation and your management techniques, such as your rotation, tillage and fertility program. Talk about your harvest schedule and things like how much wet corn you can handle,” he says.
Drill down and ask about hybrid strengths and weaknesses—like disease and insect resistance, drought tolerance, emergence and standability. “If you identify a top-yielding hybrid, ask your seedsman how you can farm out its weakness and manage around it,” Ferrie advises.
Darrell Smith contributed to this article.
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