Weed Resistance in the Northern Plains is an accident waiting to happen. We've all been there - we see the writing on the wall, yet we choose to ignore it.
Don't ignore impending weed resistance. It is gathering steam in our region. Learn what is coming and what you can do to minimize its effect on your crop investment as well as protect and preserve glyphosate for the future.
When pushing populations make sure you know your hybrids and their characteristics. Most of the current hybrids on the market today have good stalk and root strength. However, there are some hybrids that have super high yield potential but do need to be managed or watched to maximize those yields. These types of hybrids will work in a high population situation, but may need to be harvested in a timely manner. We learned lessons like this last year with the weekly high winds we received.
Stand placement is another important factor to consider when planting higher populations. Increasing populations will decrease the plant to plant spacing in the row. This is more of a concern in 30" rows where the spacing is tighter. An ideal spacing for 32,000 plants is 6.56", while planting 36,000 reduces that spacing to 5.83", giving a tighter margin... Click here to read more...
There are a few factors to consider if you are thinking about increasing your corn population this year.
I've studied population the past six years in my Ole & Sven plots, along with the past couple years with our Plus20 farmers. With the increased use of planters with hydraulic drives, it is easier to plant population strips, versus stopping and changing drive sprockets. I've observed that you give up more potential by not having enough population in the field than having too many plants for the resources.
We produce about 5.5bu per 1,000 plants on every acre in our region. So by increasing your planting rate by 2,000 plants could result in another 11bu/acre. At $5/bu that equals a potential $55/acre for a $6/acre ($237 bag / 80,000 x 2,000) investment in planting cost. If drought or flooding situations occur, yields would be lost regardless if you had 34k plants or 30k plants per acre.
Seven Billion People! Sometime in the last couple of months, the seven billionth inhabitant of this planet was born. That is a lot of mouths to feed.
The world is relying on farmers to feed that population, making this an incredibly exciting time to be a part of production agriculture!
And it is a noble mission: Farmers Feed People.
But as the world population continues to increase, this noble mission becomes the daunting challenge of producing more food on less land with less supplemental... Click here to read more...
"The reason we use Peterson Farms Seed is integrity, reliability, and quality of service. I know from the time I order the seed until its harvested, theyll stand behind it." - Matt Swenson, Walcott, ND
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