By TIM ALEXANDER
Illinois Correspondent

MALTA, Ill. — DeKalb County farmer Steve Drendel of Malta opened his corn fields to three seasonal yield tests in 2010, conducted by Farmer’s Independent Research of Seed Technologies (F.I.R.S.T.).

The first “ultra-early” season test was paced by AgriGold’s A6309STX seed, with a yield of 241.9 bushels per acre and gross income of $923.10 per acre, followed closely by Heritage’s 8390GENSS variety, with a yield of 241.1 bushels and $916.20 in income.

Both varieties registered a moisture level of between 19.5-20 percent, and a total of 54 varieties were tested. Coming in third was LG Seeds LG2527VT3 with a yield of 236.4 bushels per acre and a gross income of $904.
An early-season test performed on Drendel’s well-drained test plot of Flanagan silty clay loam was led by Dyna-Gro 57V40, which registered a yield of 240.2 bushels per acre and gross income of $891.60 per acre. Rated second-best during the test was Kruger’s K-6107VT3 technology, which posted a 235.3-bushel average and $881 in income.

Croplan came in third with variety 5415VT3P at 232.5 bushels per acre and a gross income of $877.90 per acre. The top three test finishers all registered moisture contents of over 20 percent. Eighty-one seed varieties comprised of varying technologies were put to the test.

During the full-season test on the Drendel farm, 72 seed varieties were planted in fall-tilled (conventional), non-irrigated soil. A Sep. 25, 2010, harvest revealed OMG’s 6L39 brand had outpaced the others with a per-acre yield of 246.8 bushels. The variety achieved a gross income of $904.30 per acre.
Finishing a somewhat distant second was Great Lakes’ 6354G3VT3, with a yield of 238.6 bushels and $875.20 per acre in gross income. Coming in third with 237.7 bushels and an income of $886.10 was Trelay 7T630. Both OMG and Great Lakes’ varieties registered moisture levels of over 23 percent, and Trelay’s was just under 22 percent.

As in many parts of Illinois, the growing season here was marked by wild fluctuations in weather following an uncommonly wet spring – and was accompanied by the plant maladies that often follow.

“Diseases such as Anthracnose, Gray leaf spot and Goss’s wilt were all present at this location,” summarized Jason Beyers, F.I.R.S.T. project manager. “Ample amounts of rainfall were received early in the season, stressing some hybrids that don’t like wet feet.”

Most hybrids had good kernel size and depth, Beyers added.
For a complete list of brands tested and their results, see the searchable database available at www.firstseedtests.com