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| Thanks Seth. I'd missed that entirely the first time.
I've seen what corn is capable of. When we bought our home in town in 1990, I had the opportunity a year later to purchase 5 adjoining lots that had been in red clover for more years than anyone could remember. At the time, I was an LG Dealer. Those lots were just exactly 1 acre. I didn't want to mow them so I thought why not put my corn and bean plot there ?
Being right in town, you can imagine how meticulous I was knowing my neighbors would see my mistakes every day. The corn and bean plot rows were only 80 or 85 feet long, with a grass strip down the middle with beans on one side and corn on the other. I can't tell you how much pleasure I got each summer evening walking through that plot sippin' on a glass of ice tea after a long day. It was beautiful and fun to watch.
Of course, being part of my yard, I kept every weed pulled and all the rows nice and even, except one. In one variety, I had a nice lookin' plant 24 inches from all the rest at the end. I left it. When the corn started puttin' shoots out, most all of them put multiple silks out, but this loan plant put silks out on far more. I got to payin' attention. While most all the other plants filled one or two ears, this single plant getting all the sun it could soak up, filled 5 ears and was witnessed by everyone attending my plot day that summer. (No, I didn't water it. And yes, it was a good crop year in general.)
I won't embarrass myself by publishing the plot results for many of you to scoff at, but I will say it's the only time I ever saw a seed company knock 27 to 40 bushels from every hybrid in the plot before they published it. I assumed they would trash it. The agronomist told me they used a formula to account for the "short row effect", but I never could get that formula. :) I just chalked it up to perfect rainfall and fabulous soil tilth after years in well maintained clover (of course the beans didn't like following the legumes. They were pretty common.) | |
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Seed corn genetics heading in the right direction ?
