UW Corn Hybrid Performance Results on Internet

        Results from the UW Corn Hybrid Performance Trials are available on the internet at:   http://corn.agronomy.wisc.edu/HT/2005/Text.htm.  The information can be downloaded in a printed format or as a computer spreadsheet file.  For those familiar with computer spreadsheet programs, this is a handy format for sorting the data by whatever performance parameter you desire (yield, location, year, etc.).  For your information, the difference between the top grain yield performing hybrid and bottom performer at the Fond du Lac site in 2005 was 79 bushels per acre (high=235 bu/acre, low=156 bu/acre).  Corn silage yields ranged from 7.5 to 9.8 tons of dry matter per acre.  

The “best” maturity to plant

        Joe Lauer, UW-Extension Corn Agronomist, recently completed an analysis to answer the age old question centering on optimum corn hybrid relative maturity (RM).  It’s long been known that full (longer) season RM hybrids planted early have the greatest yield potential because they generally build the largest plant “factory.”  Conversely, longer season corn hybrids often can be higher in moisture and incur a higher drying cost. In the analysis for the Fond du Lac location, the optimum RM based solely on yield was 103 days.  However, when a commercial drying cost of $0.04 per bushel was considered, the optimum RM dropped to 99 days.  A bit longer RM (100-101 days) was optimum when on-farm drying was done for $0.02 per bushel.  For high moisture corn (no drying and fed to livestock), a 103 RM was again most profitable. 

Pick with care

        Before selecting corn hybrids for silage, there are some guiding principles that need to be known.  This will make the whole process easier. They are: 

•   Prepare to be frustrated, especially if you listen or talk to more than one seed company representative or university employee. 

•   Making a decision on 1-year, 1-location data is like getting married after the first date.  Likely, you’ll make a wrong decision.  Think of locations as environments and analyze data from a lot of environments. 

•   Prepare to encounter yield x quality tradeoffs.  No hybrid to date has been #1 in both categories but some are well above average on both counts. 

•   Significant differences exist for both yield and quality among corn hybrids.  The key is to locate and capitalize on these differences! 

•   Predicting corn silage quality factors not related to harvest time whole plant moisture or cutting height starts and ends with hybrid selection.