“Seed’s greatest potential yield exists while it’s still in the bag,” says Farm Journal Field Agronomist Ken Ferrie. “After you plant the crop, it adjusts its yield potential based on the elements and the environment. There’s only one way for yield potential to go — downward. So your job is to salvage as much yield as possible.”
If you do everything else right, weather sets the cap on yield. But you don’t know how the weather is going to shape up. “Your goal is to weatherproof the crop as much as possible to reduce negative effects of weather,” Ferrie explains.
With corn, the first eight growth stages, V1 through V8, have a major impact on yield potential. It’s as if the plants are negotiating with Mother Nature to see how many bushels the weather will let them produce.
Here’s how you can bolster your plants:
- Plant in the sweet spot.
- Know how many days you have to actually plant your crop and when they occur.
- What if you can’t cover all your acres during the sweet spot?
- Don’t plant in cold soil, which could lead to seed chilling.
- Count plants and ears.
- Patience pays.
- Have big enough equipment and enough help.
- Plant high-quality seed.
- Never let seed get hungry.
- Manage the carbon penalty.
