By DOUG GRAVES
Ohio Correspondent

MAZON, Ill. — In ultra-early, early- and full-season testing of corn seeds at a farm in Grundy County, numerous seed brands performed well under stressed conditions – but none better than those from LG Seeds and NuTech.

Testing was performed at Lynard Tryler’s farm in northeastern Illinois by Farmer’s Independent Research of Seed Technologies (F.I.R.S.T.).

In ultra-early testing, LG Seeds’ LG2527VT3 polled the top yield, with 179.3 bushels. That brand ranked first in terms of profit as well, at $714.30 per acre.

NuTech 5N-803 and Mycogen 2J597 finished second and third with 176.7 and 175.9 bushels per acre, respectively.

Low bushel-per-acre figures can be blamed on weather conditions rather than the seed’s performance. “Normally we’d like to see plot averages of 210 to 225,” said F.I.R.S.T. Manager Jason Beyers, “but this location was planted early and had consistent rains during late April and all of May, causing it to struggle early on. Then the rains completely quit until the end of August.

“But hey, that’s okay, because many companies want to know which hybrids will perform well under high-stressed conditions.”

Taking fourth place for this test was Jung 7520VT3, with an average yield per acre of 170.6 bushels and an estimated gross income of $679.70 per acre. Trelay’s 6VT154 and FS Seeds’ FS54SX1 were fifth and sixth in ultra-early testing, averaging 169.9 and 169.6 bushels, respectively. Moisture content in this ultra-early test averaged 15.4 percent.

In early-season testing, Stine 9531VT3Pro, Great Lakes 5939G3VT3 and NuTech 3T-810 finished with yields of 186.3, 182.0 and 181  bushels per acre, respectively. Stine9531VT3Pro led the way with an average gross income of $737.70 per acre. Moisture content averaged 16.6 percent.

Taking fourth place for this test was Heritage 4610VT3, with an average yield per acre of 180.2 bushels and an estimated gross income of $712.20. Steyer 10903VT3P and NuTech G2 5X-411 finished fifth (177 bushels per acre) and sixth (176.6), respectively.
In full-season testing, NuTech, LG Seeds and Wyffels were the top-yielding seed varieties. NuTech G2 5X-512 (which had a top gross income of $761.70 per acre) was tops with 195.7 bushels per acre.
LG Seeds LG2620VT3 was second at 189.6 bushels per acre, while Wyffels W6871 was third at 180.5 bushels. Moisture content in full-season testing stood at 16.7 percent.

Great Lakes 6354G3VT3, Trelay 7T630 and Heritage 4642VT3 were next in line, with yields of 179.9, 179.7 and 179.6 bushels per acre, respectively.

“Plant health was excellent, but it was evident that most hybrids (in all three tests) were severely stressed during pollination,” Beyers said.

Pest management in all tests included Balance Pro, Atrazine, Lexar and Force. The previous crops for all three tests were soybeans, treated with Glyfos.