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The Gleaner combine making its way through our corn test plots.
The Gleaner combine making its way through our corn test plots.

 

For the last several years, we have planted a corn variety trial behind the Vidalia Onion test plots at the Vidalia Onion and Vegetable Research Center.  Cliff Riner started this variety trial when corn prices were higher and there was much interest in growing corn as a double crop behind Vidalia Onions.  Many onion growers would take advantage of some of the residual fertility from the onions to help grow the corn crop.  This trial is intended to simulate an onion producer growing corn behind onions as a second crop.  Every year when all of the onions are harvested at the research center, we put in a corn variety trial to see which varieties do best.  Depending on the year, the corn is planted between mid-May and early June after the onions are harvested.  This isn’t the ideal time to plant corn, but it is the situation that onion growers are faced with if they want a crop of it behind onions.  The corn is subject to hotter temperatures during pollination, high disease pressure from Southern Rust, and greater insect pressure since it is planted later than the optimal time.  Sometimes the varieties that are typically higher yielding don’t always do as well in a more stressful situation, and this trial gives us the opportunity to see how many of the popular or new varieties on the market perform in this situation.

Our main goal of doing this trial has been to see which varieties perform well when planted late in less than optimal conditions, particularly in a double crop situation behind onions.  We hope this gives some good information about varieties that growers are familiar with as well as new ones.

3 reps of each corn variety are weighed on a grain cart with built in scale.
3 reps of each corn variety are weighed on a grain cart with built in scale.

 

Well, we harvested this year’s late planted corn trial behind onions last Thursday (October 8th, 2015) and have the yield results to share. We would like to thank all of the seed companies for donating the seed for this trial (Dekalb, Pioneer, Mycogen, and AgDepot) and DuPont for the fungicide used during the season.  Before we get into yield numbers, here are the particular details about this year’s trial.

Plant Date:  May 19th

Plant Population:  36,300

Row Spacing:  36 inches

Herbicides Applied: Roundup+Atrazine+Prowl (POST)

Fungicides Applications: Aproach (V6 stage) and Aproach Prima (tassel)

Fertility: When corn was about 12″ tall, 200 lbs of nitrogen + 20 lbs sulfur per acre was applied in one application, no additional P or K was applied

Irrigation: followed UGA water recommendations.

Each corn variety was planted in 3 different replications.  Each rep was 4 rows wide by 500 feet long.

Late Planted Corn After Onions Variety Trial
Variety Plot Weight (lbs) Moisture % Bushel Per Acre Yield
Phoenix 7914 1170 18.3 145.8
1222 17.4 154.0
1114 17.1 140.9
Variety Average 146.9
Pioneer 1319 HR 1314 17.2 165.9
1334 16.9 169.1
1230 16.4 156.8
Variety Average 164.0
Dekalb 67-72 1624 17.3 204.8
1572 17.96 196.7
1492 17.8 187.1
Variety Average 196.2
Mycogen 2D848 1490 17.75 186.9
1500 17.5 188.7
1530 18 191.4
Variety Average 189.0
Phoenix 6706A4 1454 16.6 185.0
1542 15.8 198.0
1414 16.3 180.5
Variety Average 187.8
Pioneer 1529 YHR 1374 17 173.9
1212 17.6 152.3
1330 17.7 166.9
Variety Average 164.4
Dekalb 6208 1400 16.6 178.1
1326 16.3 169.3
1162 16 148.9
Variety Average 165.4
Mycogen 2C797 1428 16.36 182.2
1550 16.9 196.5
1473 17.3 185.8
Variety Average 188.1
Pioneer 1794VYHR 1534 16.86 194.5
1388 16.8 176.1
1436 17.3 181.1
Variety Average 183.9
Dekalb 6714 1596 17.4 201.1
1546 17.6 194.3
1502 17.3 189.5
Variety Average 194.9
Mycogen 2C786 1418 17.4 178.6
1474 17.2 186.1
1384 17 175.2
Variety Average 180.0
Pioneer 1637 VYHR 1372 17.15 173.4
1246 16.9 157.9
1292 16.9 163.8
Variety Average 165.0
Dekalb 64-69 1312 17.1 165.9
1230 17.13 155.5
1306 16.7 165.9
Variety Average 162.4

 

For those interested, here is the statistical data for this trial:

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