Published: February 29, 2008 05:23 pm            

Commodity Classic speakers talk success in corn-on-corn

Best to return to soybeans after two years of corn

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Feb. 29) — Growers can overcome the “yield ding” in corn-on-corn with the right hybrid, the right nitrogen strategy and a little luck from Mother Nature.

That’s according to Fred Below, professor of crop physiology at the University of Illinois, speaking today at the 2008 Commodity Classic in Nashville, Tenn. His remarks were part of a Learning Center session on protecting yield potential in corn-on-corn.

Improved disease resistance, emergence, stalk strength and other genetic advances are giving growers better hybrid choices for continuous corn, Below said. Perhaps most exciting is research demonstrating increased nitrogen capture from triple-stack corn hybrids that include a transgenic trait for rootworm resistance.

“We don’t typically talk about nitrogen management and rootworm control in the same presentation,” Below said, “but we’re finding growing evidence that triple stack hybrids do a better job of taking in water and nutrients from the soil.”

Below said research conducted at the University of Illinois in 2006 and Syngenta Learning Centers in 2007 demonstrates better nitrogen capture and increased yield from rootworm-resistant corn hybrids over a range of rootworm infestation levels, from low to high.

“Looking at yields and nitrogen rates averaged over eight replicated trials in 2007, we found that a 100-pound N rate on corn hybrids with the Agrisure RW rootworm trait produced a higher yield than twice the N rate applied to the same corn hybrid without rootworm protection,” Below said.

Where transgenics are planted back to back, Bruce Battles, agronomy marketing manager with Syngenta Seeds Inc., encouraged using trait rotation as needed to allow for volunteer corn control.

“Other than cultivation, utilizing herbicide-tolerant traits is really your only option when it comes to controlling volunteer corn in corn,” Battles said. Without that option, Battles said growers face a potential yield penalty of up to 20 percent based on results from Syngenta Agronomy Research trials as well as university studies.

“If you planted an Agrisure RW hybrid with glyphosate tolerance last year, we advise rotating to an Agrisure RW hybrid with the LibertyLink gene this year,” Battles said. Another option would be planting a hybrid with Agrisure 3000GT, a new quad stack from Garst, Golden Harvest and NK Brand that combines corn borer and rootworm resistance with glyphosate and glufosinate (Liberty) herbicide tolerance.

What about third-year corn? Both Battles and Below advised rotating back to soybeans after two years of corn.

“Throwing soybeans in every third year will reduce your residue levels and that’s only going to help by reducing the vector for plant diseases and allowing your soils to warm up sooner,” Below said.

Battles pointed out that growers still have volunteer corn control options when growing three or more years of continuous corn. For example, he said, growers could plant back-to-back Agrisure CB/LL/RW hybrids and alternate between preemergence herbicide programs and glufosinate-based herbicide programs.

“If the view from the combine looks like you may have a volunteer corn problem the following year, then you still have the option of planting an Agrisure 3000GT hybrid and controlling the volunteers with Touchdown Total herbicide.”

        

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