This is my first year putting this field to corn and looking for some help choosing a seed hybrid. Last fall the field was rutted up and compacted slightly from the combining soybeans. the field is mostly marlette loam with slight slopes and i was wondering what the best coarse of action is for field prep. Should i rip the ground with a disk chisel then use a finishing tool, or light tillage only or no-till it? as for seed im pretty lost I know i want about a 104 to 108 day corn and round up ready. What traits are worth it? Ive been looking at the 5%RIB seed. has there been feed back on this? The more info i get the better. If i can pull in a respectable yeild this year it could open up some neighboring fields for rent thanks for your imput
Permalink Reply by Aaron Braunschweig on I doubt you would want to no till into a field that is all rutted up and compacted. I would wait a year to do any no tilling, after you get the ruts out and have it subsoiled. I would disc chisel it then work it twice with a field cultivator, once crossways and then lengthways. But that's just me. It's hard to say how the field will turn out if you don't have some knowledge of what has and has not worked on this field for tillage.
Permalink Reply by Matt Blanchard on A few questions need to be asked before making a suggestion on a corn hybrid.
Permalink Reply by anonymous on I'm not familiar with your soils, but deep chiseling in the spring, unless done real early has a great potential to dry the ground out badly. If you get good rains great, but what if you don't? Possibly if you could go right behind it with a field cultivator and try to seal it up you might be ok but then compaction becomes a problem and have you accomplished anything besides burning fuel? Hopefully you are far enough north that the freeze/thaw cycle will loosen it up, and field cultivating will take care of the ruts. Not knowing how bad the ruts are makes it hard to determine things. Plus not knowing the amount of residue you have. I agree knowing the field and what has and hasn't worked would help lots. If the ground needs tiled, timeliness and management are even more important. No-tilling too wet hasn't worked for me at all. Have you thought about strip-tilling? That might open some eyes and get you noticed and solve some problems as well. As for seed, there's some good suggestions, and your seed rep. should be able to help you a lot. I hope you can get the variety you want and need. The good numbers are gone around here, just saying, not trying to scare you.
Permalink Reply by Nick on Marlin, where are you located, how much rainfall you typical get? How rutted up is the fields? How big a area? You shouldnt have rootworm being after beans, so why go with the RIB? What kinda weeds you fighting? Humidity during growing season?
I would hesitate working it just yet.....lets get some more detail....
Permalink Reply by Jonathan Dansel on I wouldn't hesitate on the 5%RIB Complete products...technically he only needs something RR but having the corn-borer protection and the added ear worm protection is definately worth spending a few more dollars per bag and getting a better quality product on those acres...my opinion anyway.
Permalink Reply by Jonathan Dansel on Just for the record...you are talking about VTDouble Pro products aren't you Marlin?? In the case you are talking about Smart Stax 5% RIB complete I would agree with, Nick, you would be paying for expensive traits you do not need. I was referring to "our" VT2 products for your field. I'm not sure what other seed companies are doing with the VT2 products, but Channel has most, if not all of our VT2 products shipping out this year RIB Complete.
Permalink Reply by Marlin Gloor on Permalink Reply by Nick on Permalink Reply by Marlin Gloor on The local coop is pretty good, they seem to know there stuff but the tend to push dekalb cuase thats what they sell. With this mild winter we have had how will that affect everything? We have no frost in the ground compared to normal winters and no snow cover.
Permalink Reply by Matt Blanchard on Regarding SmartStax vs. VT2P:
If your area has had incidences of extended diapause or variants of the rootworm beetle laying eggs in soybean fields, it would behoove you to give that corn some sort of rootworm protection, whether it be transgenic or a soil-applied insecticide. The "you shouldn't have rootworm after soybeans" argument was pretty much dead and buried here in Iowa 7-8 years ago. Personally, I prefer the transgenic approach, for two reasons: 1) consistency of control, and 2) ease of handling. Handling soil-applied insecticides has become a lot easier (and safer) than it had been in the past, with the advent of "smart boxes", etc. However, you're still handling a very toxic material. SmartStax offers two below-ground modes of action against corn rootworm, and is no less safe to handle than any other seed corn.
There is also a fair amount of data to suggest that in a dry year, you'll see a benefit out of the rootworm trait, even in the absence of rootworm pressure. And, in a dry year, your soil-applied insecticide probably isn't going to work very well, anyway. On the other end of the spectrum, a wet spring will negate your insecticide just as quickly, as excess moisture will dilute the product to the point of ineffectiveness.
Mild winters tend to make for bug problems the next year.
The bottom line is: make sure of your insect protection needs before you make a decision one way or another. Don't just assume that, because of the crop rotation, you're not going to have rootworm issues.
Permalink Reply by Nick on Matt, interesting about the rootworm there in Iowa...guess you're tight potting soil does have some disadvantages too ;-)....here in our dust bowl valley you can go almost 3 years without RW problems, and if you rotate, it's almost a given not too have any. Completely opposite yield results in our area too for extra RW traits....specially behind beans or wheat....we are a lot sandier...
Agree with your statement about mild winters and bugs
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