AGRONOMIC AND TEST INFORMATION: DUMAS
TEST: 2006 Irrigated Corn Performance Test
LOCATION: J & H AgriEnterprises, Dumas, Texas
COOPERATORS: Harold Grall, Dennis Pietsch, Michael Felcman, and Ted Dusek
SOIL TYPE: Sherman silty clay loam
ROW WIDTH: 30"
PREVIOUS CROP: Corn
LAND PREPARATION: Ridgetill behind corn.
DATE PLANTED: 5-3-06; with cones mounted on an ALMACO planter using JD Max-Emerge II units
PLOT LENGTH: 25'
FERTILIZER: Sidedress 100+0+0 and 78+0+0 by fertigation
HERBICIDE: Applied 1 lb/A Atrazine, preplant; Applied 4.0 oz/A of Clarity + 32 oz/A of Roundup at 6 leaf stage for grass and broadleaves
INSECTICIDE: Applied an aerial application of Comite @ 2.5 pt/A for mites at pre-tassel stage; applied an aerial application of Invite @ 12 oz/A + 5 oz/A of Penncap for rootworm beetles at silk stage.
RAINFALL: 9.37” during the growing season
IRRIGATIONS: 19.87" were applied through a center pivot system during the growing season.
DATE HARVESTED: 10-18-06, with JD 3300 combine equipped with bucket system.
SIZE HARVESTED PLOT: 2 rows, 25' long
TEST DESIGN: Randomized complete block using REMLTOOL software
NUMBER ENTRIES: 25
NUMBER REPLICATIONS: 4
MEAN PLANT POP: 25,400 plants per acre
TEST MEAN: 201.3 bu/A; yields corrected to 15.5% moisture
TEST C.V.: 9.58%
COMMENTS: Conditions were not favorable for maximum corn production at this test site. The season started with no moisture in the soil profile. Only .3” of rainfall was recorded from October 2005 until planting. Due to the lack of rainfall during the fall and winter months, very little stalk degradation occurred from the previous crop. In fact, dry conditions along with high winds caused large areas of corn stalks to accumulate thus causing problems during the ridge till process and at planting.
The test was planted on May 3. Immediately after planting, the test block received irrigation thru center pivot, which ensured germination and seedling emergence. The test block was accidentally sprayed with Roundup by a commercial applicator when plants were in the 6-leaf stage. Those hybrids that did not have the Roundup resistant gene were killed, thus creating blank plots within the test block. As the season progressed, weeds and grass continued to grow in those blank areas. Due to the competition created by grass and weed pressure in the blank plots, yields from adjoining plots were not statistically affected. This was confirmed after the test was harvested as data was statistically analyzed using several different options for analysis.
Originally, 30 hybrids were planted in this test block, but data from only 23 are reported in the table. Despite the adverse conditions encountered during the growing season, the test mean yield was 201.3 bu/A compared to the past 3-year average of 194.8 bu/A. The remainder of the circle harvested by the farmer averaged 194 bu/A.
Appreciation is expressed to Mr. Jeff Wright of Syngenta Seed Co. for harvesting the test block.