Short-stature corn hybrids are gaining more interest from farmers in the Corn Belt as wind events become a greater concern for standability.
In the process of evaluating shorter hybrids for the farm, it’s crucial to consider hybrid traits – just as you would with traditional hybrids, according to Ken Ferrie, Farm Journal Field Agronomist.
“Short corn hybrids have the same characteristics as regular corn, the nodes are just stacked tighter,” he says. “You’re going to have different leaf structures with short corn just as with regular hybrids, so we have to be careful what our populations are, what soil types we put them on, and what we’re going to do with them for light capture.”
Why Light Capture Is Critical
Ferrie recommends farmers capture 97% of the available sunlight to maximize yield by the time a corn hybrid tassels, whether that hybrid is offensive or defensive, of traditional height or short stature.
When water is not a concern on heavy soils or irrigated soils, farmers can often achieve 97% light capture by pushing up their hybrid plant populations.
When water is a concern, especially on lighter soils, you still want to achieve 97% light capture but you can likely achieve it with fewer plants, leaving more water available per plant, so you will be able to lower your planting population.
The Problem With Generalities
Short-stature corn hybrids are often planted at higher populations because their architecture allows for better light interception and more efficient use of resources when grown closer together.
“For some of these shorter hybrids, you might find you need to push populations up to 40,000-plus to get that light capture to maximize yield,” Ferrie says.
But due to leaf characteristics, not all short corn hybrids need to be planted at that high of a population. Some will perform better at a lower population, thanks to their leaf structure.
During a recent video, Ferrie offers a side-by-side look at three different short-corn hybrids with different leaf structures. Each hybrid was planted on the same day at a 30,000 population in strips across a field. You can watch this 4.30-minute video here.
Hybrid No. 1 – Pendulum
This type of hybrid is characterized by a leaf structure where the leaves droop and spread out horizontally. Pendulum hybrids are better suited to lower populations and can help reduce water loss through evaporation, Ferrie says, while still maintaining sufficient photosynthesis.
“This would be a short hybrid you’d plant at a 30,000 population on lighter soils – those soils where you want to pull the population back, but you still have to cover the row,” Ferrie says of hybrid no. 1. “You can’t leave the row open, because if sunlight hits the ground, it’ll cook this corn. So, we want to close that up.”
Hybrid No. 2 – Semi-Upright Hybrid
The next short-corn product Ferrie addresses in the video is a semi-upright hybrid, one that is somewhat open at its base and then goes upright in its leaf structure.
“This is not going to close the row at a 30,000 population; if you put this on at 30,000 plants to the acre or less, it’s probably going to burn up if we have too much heat. Too much sun would get down into the canopy. We need to push this population maybe up into the mid-30s to the upper 30s, to get this canopy closed,” Ferrie says.
Hybrid No. 3 – Upright Hybrid
This hybrid shown in the video is upright from its base at ground level and stays in a tight formation all the way to its top. An upright short hybrid needs to be planted at a population more in the range of 40,000 to 42,000 to prevent sunlight from hitting the ground and being wasted.
“If you plant this hybrid at a low population on a light soil because you’re worried about wind, you’re probably going to burn up this hybrid,” Ferrie says. “It’s not a good fit for lower populations, as you’ll have a lot of energy that’s wasted.”
This is a hybrid that, in the correct population range, would have less stalk and more leaves, Ferrie adds, making it a good candidate for a silage program because it offers more digestibility.
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