Better Farming - December 2016

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42 Story Idea?Email Better Farming December 2016
CROPS: YIELDMATTER$
seed purchasing decisions. In order of
importance for seed corn purchasing
factors are consistency of perfor-
mance, standability, rapid dry down
at harvest, and yield results. (Within
the survey results, trait selections for
above- and below-ground insect pests
and seed treatments were inferred as
part of consistent performance.)
As a matter of fact, the one thing
that farmers will not tolerate is wet
corn at harvest; they can forgive most
other things. You do not want to be
the seed representative who sold the
hybrid that is still at 30 per cent
moisture at harvest time!
The decisions regarding hybrid
selection are more complicated due to
performance parity amongst the
various seed corn company selec-
tions. Long gone are the days where a
single seed company dominated the
marketplace with far superior perfor-
mance. In a typical performance plot
of similar maturities, oftentimes the
top three competing hybrids will have
very similar results.
To help sort out the performance
differences, farmers can access a
number of useful sources of informa-
tion: the Ontario Corn Committee
trials, seed company performance
plots, ag retailer plots and side-by-
side trials on their own farms. The life
cycle of most hybrids on the market is
barely three years, which means
constant variety turnover. Thus, it
may be difficult to get enough
information on consistency from a
single source.
The Ontario Corn Committee
trials at offer numerous
interactive tools to sort hybrids by
maturity range, trial locations and
number of years the specific hybrid
was grown in that location. Farmers
can compare such things as yield
index, standability, harvest moisture
and test weight. You can also use the
seed cost calculator, and see how well
a particular hybrid has performed
over various locations and years.
However, the data from the most
recent season may not yet be available
for review at the time of ordering for
In order of importance for seed
corn purchasing factors are
consistency of performance,
standability, rapid dry down at
harvest, and yield results.
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