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| I'm going to make a few assumptions -- this is pretty dangerous.
First I'm going to assume that your location in SW MN got waterlogged as did most of SW MN & NW IA. This restricted root growth and took away N. Also this year more than most (this is my 3rd year of soaking spring in my location in NW IA) those rains came very hard, and we not only pushed the air out, but the air couldn't get back in after the water left. I saw alot of soys that were in dry soil and had poor root development, until the soil was reopened with a cultivator. Also I do believe that this year, contrary to all the hype from the guys out east and south, yields in our area (and generally north of HWY 20 in IA (Fort Dodge to Sioux City) are going to be poor -- simply a function of math. Yield is simply using the best odds to convert sunlight into starch. Now think about the growing season - tassled almost a month late "here" - August 1st. A full month and a half past optimum sunlight interception, next our heat almost always came with overcast skys -- this provides even less photosynthetic energy to grow starch. Dont be shocked -- most silage estimates I've heard have been in the 160-180 range on farms that will average 200-220. I'd also say that since 2009 our "average" has been a function of extremes -- super wet then super dry, hot or cold -- usually not good for corn on corn which needs more "normal" conditions to make sure it gets N, has less water to work with.
Second Assumption. This one will cause some guys to get riled up -- and again I'm making an assumption. Most popular genetics in our area all come from the same basic pipeline. That is they have the same strong points and weak points. Its really hard to find genetics that have high yield potential that are better on diseases. Corn on corn increases disease pressure that compounds year after year.
In response to the discussion about soil prep, I believe in our heavy wet soils that the blacker the soil, the better. Of course this causes other issue such as N tie up. but our biggest issue as we move north is to get good soil warmup, and the seed out of the ground. This changes year to year, some years strip till works great, but due to the discussion above about being cool and slow to grow, this year the best corn on corn I've seen was plowed, last year that same field was the worst as we ran out of water late in the year locally.
In response to manure -- youre also getting extended N release, so you have a cushion on years where you get n lose of slow conversion. The organic N part will be available for an extended time and give more bang for the buck. Also getting a full micro package -- and usually more K than you'd apply with commercial fertilizer. | |
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Corn on corn
