Shimmy1 - 4/28/2024 17:42



It is very interesting that this thread has popped up. We had this exact discussion last spring after planting.

For the last 11 years, I have pretty much exclusively planted the corn. Last spring, the decision was made to add a planter to the fleet, a 36R22. I can only run one planter, so one of the other guys got the new one. Mine is a 24R30. We also decided to do a field trial 22" corn vs. 30" corn. It was variable rate, but 2k more across the board on the 22", that was an attempt to give the 22" corn an edge in the trial. All received 3 gal of 6-24-6 in-furrow, and planting depth was SUPPOSED to be 1.75" (DON'T ASK, it is what it is). We did 8 trials, 4 each for each planter. I started and did 4 passes, then the 22" planter made 4 passes, then I did 4, so on and so forth. AFTER the field was planted, I was out checking, and discovered that all the 22" corn got planted at 1.5", bottom of the seed trench. All my corn, like it was always measured, was 1.75" to the top of the seed.

Well, each section was combined separately and weighed. The best 22" corn section was 4 bushels less than the WORST 30" section, with the best 30" beating the best 22" by 14 bushels, and the worst 30" beating the worst 22" corn by 10 bushels.

Now, I don't know if depth played a factor in these results, but my ag guy, the guy who passed earlier this month, insisted that it did. What say you guys?