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| We are considering switching to either 15" or 20" row corn. In fact, this year we planted about 120 ac of 15" corn as a trial. There have been several farmers in this area that have already switched to 15" corn & 3 or 4 of the larger farmers have been on 20" rows for a few years now.
From what I have seen there are positives and drawbacks which ever way you go. On 15" rows there's the problem of planting in tire tracks & the resulting poor stands in those tracks. Our planter has the row units behind the tires & still there is a stand reduction. Friends used a planter that the tires run on the planted rows & they were not satisfied with the stands on those rows as well. Another problem we encountered was spraying. We have a JD 6500 sprayer with 12.4 rear tires. I can get the front tires down the 15" rows but have trouble with the rear tires getting on the row and after a couple hours sprayin my eyes felt like they were ready to pop out. Most srapy their 15" corn crossways but on our 6500 there is no rear suspension & you would rattle your teeth loose if you ran crossways plus no telling what damage you would do to the boom. Neighbor has a 4920 sprayer that one of the BFOs owned previously & the boom had to be replaced & he said the rest of the sprayer is beat to heck as well from running across the rows constantly.
To me 20" would be better especially for spraying but I'm not sure I want to give up my 15" bean rows. Also, I am not convinced that there is enough yield increase to justify the cost. Talk to the farmers that have gone to 15" or 20" rows & they tell you what a larger yield increase that are seeing. Talk to farm managers & they tell you that there's not that much of a yield increase, especially in better dirt. Heard one former researcher say that 30" corn with cultivating & sidedressing will consistently outyield ultrnarrow rowed corn.
Jim makes a good point about the residue. One that I never really considered till he mentioned it. Looking around, other than 1 farmer who had 15" corn last year, the others are all chieseling their stalks in the fall. The 1 that doesn't uses a tool in the spring to break them up before planting, not sure of the tool's name off hand.
Another thing to consider is cost of insecticide, if you are in a variant rootworm area like we are which nesecitates either the use of insectide or a rw resistant seed. You will also need to look at fertilizer & anhydrous applications & how it fits into your operation. Not much different in fertilizer application but if you are sidedressing AA or considering it that is pretty much eliminated. With the high prices of AA, sidedressing is an option in helping lowering the cost.
Finally & most important is the cost to switch over. From the prices we have gotten there's not much difference in cost in trading for a new 24x20" planter & new 12x20" cornhead than there is in trading for a new 16x15" row cornhead. Either way is a large sum of money. If you could get the yield increases the farmers claim to get then it would justify the additional expense. If they are more like the farm managers claim then the additional expense becomes a drag. Not included in this would be the cost for a different sprayer if we were to go to 15" rows as we would definetly have to do something different. Your situation may be different.
Son & I discussed it at length again this morning & I think we have pretty much decided to stay with 30" row corn for now & 15" row beans. We plan on keeping an eye on things & may reconsider in a couple years.
Looks like this is a siutation that each person is going to have to sit down & way the pros & cons specifically to his operation. In our instance, my son would benifit more from the ultra-narrow rows as more of his ground is marginal soils. In my case, I have a large percentage of black soils & would more than likely see less of a benifit.
Good luck & let us know what you decide. | |
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20 inch corn in cent. IL
