5 Ways to Push Corn Yield Next Year
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As market conditions continue to add complexity to farming decisions, you play a key role in sharing product solutions and agronomic insights to help customers protect and push their corn’s yield potential next year.
When wet conditions persist for long periods, it provides an environment conducive to fungal diseases and the escalation of weeds and grasses, which rob the nutrients young corn plants need to thrive.
Brad Burkhart, a Corteva Agriscience market development specialist covering Indiana, offers five key insights based on customer farm visits and conversations with ag retailers across his region this year:
- Use the right products for the problem. You can help customers increase their crop and input flexibility by recommending the right products to match their on-farm issue – especially when it comes to controlling diseases like tar spot in corn.
“Tar spot showed up in so many corn-growing regions this year,” Burkhart says. “After migrating from Mexico, it first appeared in the United States in 2015 and continues to spread, especially when corn leaves are exposed to moisture for extended periods. It’s a fungal disease that can migrate quickly into the canopy of the plant.” - Fungicide applications contribute to more than just disease control. With longer periods of wet conditions this year conducive to the onset of tar spot, it made economic sense for many farmers who planted early to make a second fungicide application. These applications can also help protect stalk integrity and hopefully prevent lodging during wind events. Once those fungal structures, called stromata, become embedded in plant tissue, it can lead to poor plant health, which can be a precursor to yield decline.
“Field data continues to support Aproach Prima fungicide on tar spot because it provides both curative and preventive properties for up to 21 days in corn and soybeans,” Burkhart says. “From its competitive price point to its good rating on efficacy charts, Aproach Prima fungicide will strengthen any fungicide program.” - Make sure inputs contribute to customer ROI. In farming’s current economic environment, inputs like fertilizers must be used efficiently so they can contribute to yield potential. One way to reduce leaching and maximize nutrient use efficiency is by using a nitrogen stabilizer.
“Gaps in yield maps may be caused by nitrogen leaching from excessive rains,” Burkhart says. “Data confirms N-Serve and Instinct NXTGEN nitrogen stabilizers are proven to increase yield by 5.2% when used with spring nitrogen applications and by 7% when used with fall applications. The active ingredient ‘nitrapyrin’ inhibits nitrification, keeping nitrogen in ammonium form and available in a corn plant’s root zone for an additional six to eight weeks.” * - Start clean and stay clean. When it comes to weed control, you likely already understand the importance of a strong program approach.
“If a farmer chooses to bypass that pre-application and pull the planter instead, it is important to have an herbicide product that can be applied past that typical V2 or V3 cutoff,” Burkhart says. “That’s exactly where Resicore REV herbicide and Kyro herbicide are a perfect fit – both giving a farmer more flexibility and extended weed control – especially against resistant grasses. The bottom line is protecting that yield potential.”
Resicore® REV herbicide has three active ingredients and modes of action to offer control on 75 of the toughest broadleaf and grass weeds. It can be used as a pre- and postemergence herbicide on corn up to 24 inches tall and is compatible with atrazine, glyphosate and other key herbicides, as well as with nutrients like urea ammonium nitrate (UAN) and ammonium thiosulfate (ATS).
“Resicore REV herbicide basically doubles a farmer’s weed control application window option 10 to 15 days,” Burkhart says. “It works well in any overall program approach to weed control. Plus, it’s now encapsulated for enhanced crop safety.”
Lesser crop response after any application means the corn plant can use energy to pack on yield rather than waste that energy trying to recover. That is a product attribute retailers can push, and farmers can appreciate. - Never underestimate the value of using a program approach. Using a program approach to disease and weed control will help lead to higher readings on the yield monitor during harvest. An effective program approach should include multiple modes of action against diseases and weeds. It also will help preserve the products you rely on by staving off the development of resistance.
Consult your local Corteva Agriscience representative or visit Corteva.us to learn more about the products and practices mentioned in this article.
Aproach® Prima, Instinct NXTGEN®, Kyro™ and Resicore® REV are not registered for sale or use in all states. Kyro and Resicore REV are not available for sale, distribution or use in Nassau and Suffolk counties in the state of New York. Contact your state pesticide regulatory agency to determine if a product is registered for sale or use in your state. Do not fall-apply anhydrous ammonia south of Highway 16 in the state of Illinois. Always read and follow label directions.