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| Good planting conditions at Southern Indiana plot |
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DALE, Ind. — DeKalb hybrid DKC62-54 was the highest bushels per acre in a seed test plot in Southern Indiana’s Dubois County earlier this month.
The DeKalb product produced 172.6 bushels per acre worth an estimated $882.60 of gross income. Its moisture level was at 12.7 percent.
The test was conducted by Farmer’s Independent Research of Seed Technologies (FIRST) on a plot on Roesner Farms in Dale. According to FIRST manager Rich Schleuning, the soil conditions for the test plot was a clay loam with a 1 percent slope.
The field was moderately well drained.
The field was planted at 30,000 seeds per acre on May 6, and it was harvested on Oct. 2 at 29,000 plants per acre.
“When we were able to plant, the soil conditions were actually very favorable, about perfect. I couldn’t ask for any better,” Schleuning said.
A few days after planting, the field endured heavy rainfall, but it didn’t impact that particular growing location. “It got off to a great start,” Schleuning added. More than enough rain covered the area through the middle of July, then it “basically, turned dry,” he said.
The corn put a lot of effort into making its ear, so the plant cannibalized itself at the stalk, leading to light stalk rot and blight.
As the season crept closer to harvest, strong winds from Hurricane Ike damaged many fields in Dubois County.
“Hurricane Ike just made a mess out of that location,” Schleuning explained.
The crop was severely lodged at 90 percent, flat in field. Wind gusts of 71-75 mph had been reported. He said it was extremely difficult to harvest. What should’ve lasted 3.5 hours took 8.5 hours.
Schleuning estimated that he lost about 15 bushels per acre due to wind damage.
Previous crops on this field were wheat and soybeans, and Touchdown herbicide had been applied the prior year. There was little pest pressure this year.
DeKalb also had the third- and eighth-best hybrids in this test. DeKalb DKC63-74 produced 154.4 bushels per acre and DeKalb DKC61-19 generated 145.4 bushels per acre.
Becks hybrid 5684VT3 finished second at 160.2 bushels per acre. This Becks hybrid also earned the second-highest gross income estimate at $826.60.
The top 30 performers in the early test at this test plot are published in the chart at the left.
By Ann Hinch and Dave Blower Jr. |
| 10/8/2008 |
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