By ANN HINCH
Associate Editor GRAND RIDGE, Ill. — So far this harvest season in Illinois, the Don and Ralph Walter farm in LaSalle County has produced the highest yields in the annual Famers’ Independent Research of Seed Technologies, or FIRST, variety trials. Trials of three types of seed varieties were conducted in the Flanagan-Catlin silt loam soil – ultra-early, early and full-season maturities. All were planted on April 21 at a rate of 39,700 seeds per acre with 30-inch spacing, and harvested roughly two weeks later than usual, on Oct. 4. The full-season trial tested 60 varieties, with five breaking the 300 bushels per-acre mark. In the early-season test, only the top-yielding brand did this. “We had fairly good weather throughout the first part of the growing season there,” said FIRST Site Manager Jason Beyers. “It did turn dry in September; it’s a little higher-yielding than average.” The average for all varieties in the full-season test in 2017 was 279.8 bushels; the 19-year average is much lower, at 217.8. The early-season average this year was 270.7 bushels, and the ultra-early-season average was 258.6. In the full-season test, Cornelius variety C667SS staked out the No. 1 spot with 313.8 bushels per acre and a gross income of $932 per acre. Second with 306.5 bushels was Renk RK842SSTX, also second in income at $923. Coming in third for yield but ninth for gross income was Dyna-Gro’s D52SS63, at 302.8 bushels and $889 per acre. At No. 3 for income was Pioneer’s P1197AMXT GC, at $918, which was actually fifth in yield at 300.7 bushels; and No. 5 for income, at $906 per acre, was Hefty variety H6212VT2P – also at No. 4 for yield, at 301.7 bushels. “One thing to note,” Beyers said of this farm, “all those previous years, most of those were corn-on-corn. This was corn following soybeans.” In the early-season test, NuTech/G2 Gen variety X5FN-0909 placed first for both yield, at 308.6 bushels per acre, and gross income, at $950. Second for yield at 293.6 bushels was Renk RK763VT2P, and third was Burrus Power Plus 4A67 at 293 – they were third and fifth of 54 varieties for gross income, respectively, earning $897 and $892 an acre. NuTech/G2 Gen variety 5Z-702 topped the ultra-early-season test with a yield of 282.4 bushels and gross income of $882 per acre. Ranking second and third of 48 varieties in yield and income, respectively, were Wyffels’ W4196 with 282.2 bushels and $878, and Pioneer’s P0339AMXT GC at 280.4 bushels and $870 income. The soil was well drained and non-irrigated, with very high P and K and a pH of 6.3. “The water-holding capacity of that particular location is exceptional,” Beyers said. “You get down into central Illinois and a little south of there, they have similar soil types.” Also, that field is well-tiled – the area, for three counties wide, he explained, is flat enough that everything is tiled. Pest management on this site was Verdict with 41 percent Glyfos, Headline AMP and Force. “They’re just darn good farmers, and they’ve always got good yields,” Beyers said of the Walters. To read this report in detail or search for others, visit www.firstseedtests.com |
