46 Better Farming | January 2025 Follow us on @BetterFarmingON Often farmers criticize this as not being realistic. However, I would argue that it is the best way to look at pure hybrid performance without wondering about tile drainage, fertility and changing soil textures across the plot. This can be augmented by having hybrid corn field test strips on farms that run the full length of the field and take into account all the other real-world variables. The two together tell a better story about hybrid performances. The 2024 growing season was a bit of an anomaly. It started out with frequent rainstorms delaying planting, then some of the most perfect weather to fill grain. Then there were good dry-down conditions in the fall to the point that some fields were harvested at low moistures of less than 16 per cent and went straight into the storage bins without drying. Without having to pay to dry the corn, that freed up almost $120 per acre of cash flow depending on yield. Some farmers reported their best yield ever, and for others, it was an average year on par with long-term farm averages. It is worth noting that not all farmers were so fortunate; there were areas from Sarnia to Glencoe and south of London that struggled to plant a crop at all. Some of the other noteworthy issues were tar spot, Gibberella ear rot, and DON mycotoxin. Corn that was sprayed with the appropriate fungicide at tasseling to silking (VT to R1) growth stage received enough protection to produce optimum yields. There was a later-season infection of tar spot as the fungicide activity wore off. The full impact of this infection will be somewhat unknown until there is a chance to evaluate fields that were sprayed a second time around the blister to milk (R2 to R3) growth stages. Early reports range from no response to 10 bushels per acre. This will undoubtedly be a point of discussion during this winter’s meeting season. One thing that tar spot did do was compromise stalk integrity; there were a lot of broken stalks that made harvest difficult at times. The ear rot concerns and subsequent development of the DON mycotoxin were largely at low enough levels not to interfere with the orderly marketing of the crop. Overall, at the time of writing, harvest is rapidly reaching the last acre and fall field activities are wrapping up under some exceptional conditions. It is also noteworthy that this harvest saw very little mud on the roads. With everything wrapping up early, we have the time for thoughtful analysis during the seed ordering process so we can start all over again in 2025. BF DALE COWAN Dale is agronomy strategy manager and senior agronomist for AGRIS Co-operative. He has been a regular contributor to Better Farming since its launch in 1999. CCA-ON, 4R NMS. crops: yield matter$
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