Is anyone going to plant corn next year?

haymaker421 · Dec 16, 2009

Here in N. Indiana we are dealing with a new bacteria of some sort. Every load you take in is tested, and you are charged for the test, and if your corn has this bacteria, the dock is out of this world. I assume it is because of the wet fall or perhaps the new multi level hybreds but I for one am very suspicious. No one around here is planning on anything but 90 day corn or less in 2010 and it is my understanding that you can't buy a bag of old style hybred corn any where. Has anyone else heard anything about this problem? There is still alot of corn in the field around here and it won't dry down. I heard of a load hauled in this week that was still testing 26% moisture.

Animal · Dec 16, 2009

Not if I can help it!

NY 986 · Dec 16, 2009

I don't have the same issue as you folks but have cut the corn acreage back severely the past few years. My issue is the highly variable soils that can lie within a given field. Even with todays genetics it is challenging to get to the 150 bushel mark a lot of years. To farm in terms of soil type would require sizing down to 2 to3 acre blocks.... impractical. Inputs would have to come down at least 30% for me to do more than 20 acres. There are other alternatives with less overhead that will offer a better net return.
We have been fortunate in terms of mold and disease issues as the plant breeders had solutions in new varieties before the problem got out of control.

paul · Dec 16, 2009

While you had it worse than most in your area, the growing degree days were too short this year in most of the midwest & corn everywhere was very wet. One load of mine tested 36&; a lot were between 28-30%, now at the end some got down to 19% but very few; 23-24% was normal even at the end. We planted ahead of normal & had a very dry summer.

We had a different type of mold grow on the corn kernals. They say ours wasn't harmful, but wow it's scary to see that. Never really saw anything like it before.

The mold you have is a regional thing, it affected your area real bad. It makes animals sick; they actually refuse to eat the feed if the levels are too high. Either your corn will need to be hauled out; or non-moldy corn will need to be hauled in. Then get blened together to get the bad mold level low enough.

There is still regular hybred corn available, but it is a bit harder to find. Much seed is controled by 3-4 companies, one for sure is trying to get everything as a triple-stack or more. But there are other sources, you can find regular corn seed if you look.

--->Paul

Anonymous-0 · Dec 16, 2009

Try the small corn breeder and seller, like Albert Lea Seedhouse or Becks, or NuTech for the more traditional less GMO varieties. Look north for shorter season varieties.

Gerald J.

OliverGuy · Dec 16, 2009

I hope it is just this odd year. I had my share of the mold and such in NW IN. Only one variety of Dekalb had the problem for me so I"m switching varieties that don"t have those parent genes (supposedly). It was really weird in one field--the nastiest corn I"d ever seen with mold was also probably the highest yielding corn I"d ever seen. The mold got me down, but you have to look at the whole picture. I"ll still keep planting it. At least anhydrous was half of what it was last year. I just hope next year isn"t as strange as this one was.

thurlow · Dec 16, 2009

Thirty-some odd (coulda be longer) years ago, a lot of the local corn had aflatoxin in it; elevators probed each load numerous times and wouldn't buy it at all if it tested positive. Dang this CRS..........can't remember what was done with it; coulda been dumped/destroyed. Luckily, we didn't have it...........

rrlund · Dec 16, 2009

What do you mean by "old style"? I called Feilders Choice day before yesterday and tweaked my order now that I'm done picking and have a good idea what I'm going to grow next year. I ordered some "conventional". That is,non roundup ready,non Bt. It's not that I'm planting it on all of my acres,but the fields that were super clean of weeds are going to it. I ordered all of it in anywhere from 82-92 day regardless of whether it was GMO or NON GMO. Growing season is getting too short with this weather cycle that we're in for anything longer than that.

Iowa Jim · Dec 16, 2009

(quoted from post at 08:07:24 12/16/09) Here in N. Indiana we are dealing with a new bacteria of some sort. Every load you take in is tested, and you are charged for the test, and if your corn has this bacteria, the dock is out of this world. I assume it is because of the wet fall or perhaps the new multi level hybreds but I for one am very suspicious. .

They are testing for Mycotoxins, specifically Zearalanone and Deoxyvalinol. Both of these products are bad for livestock, specifically hogs. The Zearalanone causes abortions and other reproductive issues. DON causes vomiting, feed refusal, and immune challenges.

The mold/mycotoxin issues are hurting lovestock producers in the Eastern Cornbelt. I am glad that the elevators and feed mills are finally testing for the problems.

John (C-IL) · Dec 16, 2009

Go ahead and bailout if you want to, I'm 100% corn next year, just a function of my rotation. I suspect that when all is said and done there will be more than enough corn planted.

Conventional hybrids are still out there and there are some new numbers that are available. I am unwilling to take the 20 bushel yield hit that I see for non-gmo hybrids.

The disease thing was mostly a function of the environmental conditions that we faced in 2009.

I would caution anyone that making wholesale changes to their hybrid selections could be very costly. If you want to slide your average maturity back a couple of days would be okay, but moving to hybrids that are not adapted to your area would be a major mistake.

tjdub · Dec 16, 2009

Thanks Iowa Jim.

The Wikipedia articles are interesting:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deoxynivalenol
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zearalenone

The Zearalenone mycotoxin, is the serious one since it causes infertility and abortion. While the Deoxynivalenol micotoxin acts like a diet pill for livestock.

It sure was a moldy year for corn though. I bought a crib full of ear corn from my neighbor and almost every ear has green mold in the cob right out of the field. He did have the mold tested, and luckily it was not one of the hazardous varieties and my feeder calves seem to think it's pretty tasty.

flying belgian · Dec 16, 2009

I will put conventional up against any gmo any day. However it has to be the right soil type and growing conditions for eitjher one. I put a huge corn plot in for the local coop every year and the conventionals will yield right up there with the rest. One year it was a conventional that took 1st. place in my plot of 27 varieties. Plot average was 187 and it went 202.

Bob Bancroft · Dec 16, 2009

Sure hope so. Seed is paid for. Have backed off a little the last couple years on day length. 94 day yielding 185 bu. here in central NY, so I am not going over 95 day any more.

Chester5731 · Dec 16, 2009

Yup, the beefers gotta eat something.

billonthefarm · Dec 16, 2009

I'm sure IL will have as much corn as ever next year. It is different other places but the economics are pretty clear in this part of the world, plant corn. We havent been able to do our normal tillage but we will figure out a way to get it done. Our inputs are all bought and paid for and the fertilizer is all applied and we will continue to plant 2/3 corn and 1/3 beans untill beans become a more attractive option.
bill

John (C-IL) · Dec 16, 2009

Here in east central Illinois planting other than a rootworm genetic is just plain unwise because of our rootworm problem. I grow the corn plot for our coop and only one conventional hybrid stayed with the GMO hybrids. In areas where rootworms are not a problem the conventionals will yield just as well no doubt, the only problem there is getting the latest genetics in a conventional hybrid.

Is anyone going to plant corn next year?

haymaker421

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Animal

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NY 986

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paul

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Anonymous-0

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OliverGuy

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thurlow

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rrlund

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Iowa Jim

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John (C-IL)

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tjdub

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