By DOUG GRAVES
Ohio Correspondent

NEWARK, Ohio — Twin-row corn production is still a hot topic on the farm these days. Many in the ag community will say it’s the way to go, but some experts say otherwise.

“In the popular press there have been reports suggesting that twin-rows offer some of the yield increases associated with narrow row corn,” says Peter Thomison, Ohio State University extension specialist and professor in the Department of Horticulture and Crop Science.

“We’ve done research on twin-row since the  early 1990s and we’ve found that narrow-row corn production is usually associated with row spacing of 22 inches or less, and in Ohio the yield benefits from narrowing rows have been inconsistent and usually small.”

Thomison and other crop experts will address key crop issues at the Central Ohio Agronomy Day tomorrow at Founders Hall, on the campus of Central Ohio Technical College in Wooster.

“Twin-row planting is not a new method and this method of planting is very popular with those from the south who plant soybeans,” Thomison said. “But in dealing with corn, the numbers will be different.

“Here in Ohio one-third of our corn crops utilize twin-row, with an average of 30,000 plants per acre. But in the end this leads to stress of the plant and as a result, lower yields. There are testimonials out there that say twin-row is the way to go. But the vast data indicate that twin row will improve yield.”

The Central Ohio Agronomy Day is tailored for crop producers, those in the agronomy service, Certified Crop advisers and commercial pesticide applicators. Other presenters at this one-day event include Mark Loux, an OSU extension weed specialist who will detail why farmers in this state still don’t have a handle on marestail, one of the most problematic weeds associated with soybeans and classified as a winter and summer annual.

Loux will tell attendees how to make the most effective use of herbicides, minimize herbicide resistance and how to reduce herbicide use through manipulation of other agronomic factors. Extension in Van Wert County in west-central Ohio reports that marestail was found in nearly 20 percent of soybean fields in that county this past fall.

Also presenting will be Bruce Erickson, director of Cropping Systems Management at Purdue University. He will discuss precision agriculture and contemporary farming methods. Erickson teaches Fundamentals in Applied Agronomy and provides solutions for crop producers and their advisers.

Larry Brown, director of the Overholt Drainage Education and Research Program at OSU, will discuss drainage water management and crop yield improvement potential. His expertise includes water table modeling, harvesting, treating and recycling drainage waters and incorporating agricultural constructed wetlands into production systems.

Howard Siegrist, extension agent from Licking County, will provide results of a nitrogen rate field trial in continuous corn.

Registration is $30 and includes morning refreshments, lunch, materials and up to eight hours of CCA credits. Also, 1.5 hours of private and commercial pesticide applicator credits will be available. The event will run 8:45 a.m.-3:30 p.m. For more information, call 740-670-5315 or e-mail lick@postoffice.ag.ohio-state.edu