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Corny question...

S

snoop-nc

Member
Question for corn growers. I've been making regular runs up/down US 35 in Ohio this year and have really enjoyed watching the corn and bean crops..."today's report" is from half knee high to nearly shoulder high. (Near Chillicothe)

Question: On several fields I pass, I have noticed that about every third pass with planter seems to have planted a different variety of corn. It shows as a distinct stripe in the field and a slightly different growth/height rate. Is that done for some kind of cross pollination purposes?? Is the resulting crop gonna be a hybrid for next year??

Thanks in advance for another farm lesson.

Rick/Snoop
 
I would guess that it is a comparison plot. Universities, seed companies, and seed dealers do this so that people can compare different varieties under the same conditions.
 
They just had different corn in some of the seed boxes. It gives a great way to compare one variety from another EX 12 row planter put one variety in 6boxes and another variety in the other 6. This would give 12 rows of each. The number of alike corn will depend on how many rows the planter has. You could have two rows then 6 with a four row planter using one variety in one box and another variety in the other three.
 
In the zone from mid Ohio to mid Indiana there are many seed producing companies. The corn in one set of rows will be detasseled, the corn in the other rows will be used as the pollinator. Some hand work for teens is still needed, but in the 70s, the summer employment of choice was seed corn processing in the field. The corn from the tasseled rows is used, but is not of any consequence. It goes for feed. JimN
 
I think Jim has it figured out. We are not in a hybrid seed producing area here, but how Jim described it is how it's done.

It could just be different varieties, but unless its for a yield trial, most folks try to avoid doing this as it may mature at a different time.

With the insect resistand BT corn, you are supposed to plant non-genetically modified corn on a certian percentage of the ground to provide a place for the corn borers to breed. That way they dont build up resistance to the GMO seed. It can be interplanted in a field, so you could be seeing some of that.

Gene
 
Looked to have been planted with a six row planter (possibly 8??)...You could tell that two passes had been made...giving 12 rows of like kind...and then a single pass with the other variety. That entire process would be repeated time and again. I could even see the same type of planting procedure in the head rows. BTW...appears some ground is still way to wet with patches of standing water. Will be curious to watch the beans.
 
I first thought comparison plot, but I'm not so sure. Please pardon the following illustration:

LllLllLllL. etc. is what I'm seeing.


Wouldn't a comparison plot be: LLLLLLllllll

I love the Ohio farm country I see!!

Thanks....Rick
 
I think it is just multiple hybrids in the planter- more common than seed fields. Your example of bt and non-GMO is likely. A corn refuge needs to be planted when using those hybrids, and one option is to run 2 rows refuge and 4 triple stack in a 6 row planter- or similar multiple, rather than planting each in separate fields. Tassel colors, plant height, etc. may vary, giving those patterns. Purpose is to protect GMO technology against resistance.
 
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