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NWMO | We did 20" and 30" corn side by side in same fields for 3 years. Had two planters and two corn heads. Ran the same population. We split field in half and just planted them out. Our thought was that this would give us the best comparison across varied soils and varieties of corn. Harvested early didn't see much difference in yield or lodging, but as time went on lodging became worse on the 20s. Harvesting narrow rows was way more tiresome. Had to concentrate more to stay on row and run header as early with plants fully intact you could not see snouts. I think we was ahead of the curve this far south, Not a lot of narrow row corn breeding options. Upright leaf structure and stalk strength was a much needed improvement. Yield differences we saw some advantage on the poorer soils with the 20s, but on the avg it was just not justifiable to go 20s. Weed control was better in 20s due to earlier canopy. We moved back to 30s on corn and stayed 20s on beans for several more years. Traded 30" planter for a split row to do corn and beans. Now we are back to a 30" 24row corn planter. And have made the move to a 15" Air Seeder for beans as we also like it for speed and use it for cover crops in fall. I think if they had a demand and built varieties for narrow rows in are maturity range. We would still be narrow row on everything. Just no demand for narrow rows this far south at this time. | |
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15" corn
