Schlegel Farms, Hagerstown Indiana | 73 F250 - 6/7/2026 04:30
We start with the earliest hybrid (106 day) this year and work our way out to the latest. We don’t group brands together so we aren’t biased about where one goes. I try to put a bit of each soil type in each hybrid instead of just the flattest blackest dirt. We have one checker on each side of the plot and one in the middle (Pioneer 14364 PCUE) this year.
One thing I don’t like about plots put out by chemical companies or seed dealers is manipulation of the brands. My plots all receive the same attention as the rest of our acres. Same fertilizer, same amounts, same nitrogen program, same planting rates, no extra juices, etc. I want real world results out of my plots it’s not a yield contest for me. If hybrid A is 20 bushels better than hybrid B with the same treatment those are the results I’m after.
No matter how “honest” some retailers claim to be, for some reason their brands always win the plot by 10+ bushels. Seed companies tend to be the same way. They’ll throw in some lower hitting numbers of competitors and then claim 12 bushel difference on the plot vs their racehorse or brand new numbers. I don’t like that. I want data I can use on my farm and try to help others that want that info along the way
Thanks for the reply.
Like you, I always did plots for myself and used the same practices that I used on every other acre.
Before I retired, I had a four-row corn head and an 8-row planter. I always had a check hybrid in the two boxes on each end of the planter, and the test variety in the middle four rows. It required shelling odd rows for the check, but the results had a check on each side of every plot entry. I'd then rank the test plot varity on its percent of the check on both sides.
I was always amazed, even in a flat-looking field with soil that all looked the same, how much the check's yield would vary going across the field.
I think one of the most unusual things I saw doing a plot was a number (Agrigold, but I can't remember what hybrid) that the deer loved. They had desecrated it and barely touched the check or other numbers on either side. It was almost like it was a sweet corn number.
Good luck, and I hope you have good weather and gain some valuable results. |
2026 Corn Plot
