WALNUT, Ill. — Ultra early-, early- and full-season corn hybrid trials produced booming yields at the Alan Dale farm in Bureau County this year.

The tests, administered by Farmer’s Independent Research of Seed Technologies (F.I.R.S.T.), were conducted on Waukegan silt loam, moderately well drained and non-irrigated with high levels of P and K.

G2 Genetics variety 5H-0504, distributed by NuTech Seed, LLC, led the ultra early-season test with a yield of 196.4 bushels per acre and a gross income of $1,473 per acre.

Finishing second was Nu Tech’s 5N-803 variety, with 185.4 bushels per acre and $1,400 in per-acre gross income, followed by Golden Harvest variety H-7891 3000GT with 184.4 bushels and a gross income of $1,395.

The test plot was seeded on April 18 and harvested Sept. 19, enabling the 48 varieties tested an opportunity to flourish – or fail – during a gamut of weather conditions and other challenges.

“Good emergence here, with only a few hybrids struggling with the early planting date,” reported Jason Beyers, F.I.R.S.T. test plot manager.

YIELDirect variety 5E58-GENSS led the pack of 60 corn hybrids trialed during the early-season test on the Dale farm, located in the north-central Illinois community of Walnut, with 222.1 bushels per acre and $1,661 in gross income per acre.

It was followed by AgriGold’s A6433VT3Pro variety, which produced 214.4 bushels and $1,581 in gross income, and LG Seeds variety LG2549VT3 hybrid with 208.2 bushels and $1,542 in gross income per acre.

“All the varieties looked good (though) June, and July produced very little rainfall,” Beyers noted. “A mid-season wind ‘root-lodged’ and ‘goosenecked’ some hybrids, and there was evidence of stalk rot and multiple leaf diseases. Yields were very good considering all the stresses of the year.”

That statement was also confirmed by the results of the full-season test, which saw Beck’s 5509A3 brand outperform 74 competing hybrids by producing a season-best yield of 223.1 bushels per acre along with a gross income of $1,655 per acre.

Beck’s was followed closely by Kruger variety K4R-9710, with 220.3 bushels and a per-acre gross income of $1,641. NuTech variety 5B-410 placed third in yield, with 209.6 bushels and $1,546 in gross income.