By SUSAN BLOWER
Indiana Correspondent

SPICELAND, Ind. — In an early-season test of corn hybrids in Spiceland, iCORN.com 107.VT4 led the pack by nearly eight bushels per acre. Its nearest competitor, Fielders Choice NG6720, also beat out the third-place finisher by eight bushels.

The top yield number produced by iCORN.com was 231.6 bushels per acre, followed by Fielders Choice with 223.8 and Becks EX0842VT3 with 215.5 bushels. Gross income for the top three contenders was as follows: $1,143.30, $1,128.20, and $1,016.
The soil conditions consisted of silty clay loam, with a 0.5 percent slope, well drained and conventional till on the farm of Larry and Chad Bever in Henry County of Central Indiana. The previous crop was soybean treated with Roundup.

Flooding played a part in the performance of the hybrids, said Rich Schleuning, project manager for F.I.R.S.T., Farmer‘s Independent Research of Seed Technologies, which conducted the test.

“There was some water damage to this location as the plot was under water four times. The final stand was better than expected for the rough start. Corn was standing good as there was Anthracnose stalk rot,” Schleuning said.

On April 29 about 32,000 seeds were dropped. Of those, 31,400 plants were harvested on Oct. 22.

Late-season trial

In the late season test on the same plot, iCORN.com again was the top producer albeit by a slim margin. Its hybrid, 110.RWBR7, yielded 228.0 bushels per acre, with Stine 9725VT3 close on its heels at 227.9. DeKalb DKC61-19 placed third with 224.8 bushels per acre.

In gross income iCORN.com led with $1,085.50, Stine with $1,041.80, and DeKalb with $1,075.

A complete list of all the hybrids in this test can be found on the Internet at www.firstseedtests.com