Eating healthy is always a favorite topic around the New Year when people make resolutions, but have you ever considered the importance of providing a well-balanced diet for your corn crop? After all, corn plants are living, breathing organisms! They have needs, too.

Dr. Fred Below, plant physiologist and professor with the University of Illinois at Champagne-Urbana, says 50% of corn yield is determined by weather and nitrogen. We can all agree that weather greatly affects nitrogen usage and efficiency. While no one can control Mother Nature, Dr. Below says farmers can manage nitrogen to have as much impact on yield as weather.

Nitrogen is a mobile nutrient, so the timing of fertilizer application is critical to meet a plant’s needs. The plant’s biggest need for fertilizer is between V12-R1. With this in mind, Dr. Below asks why so many farmers are applying nitrogen seven months before the plant needs it. Consider this analogy:

You want to throw a party during the third week of June 2012. However, canned beverages can be purchased cheaper in early November 2011. You stock up on drinks and store them, on the edge of your field, near the road for seven months. Will those beverages still be located in the same spot on June 22, a hot, dry day when you’re especially thirsty and want to drink 7 cans?

Instead of providing a feast or famine situation for a corn plant, Dr. Below says farmers can benefit from controlling the release of fertilizer and by managing micronutrients. During a presentation to a group of farmers and Seed-2-Soil® clients in Clear Lake last Thursday, he showed how taking a system approach that combines seed technology with fertilizer technology can significantly – and consistently – improve corn yields.

Have you set a goal of consistently raising 250- or 300-bushel corn? Nitrogen management is key, but it’s not the only factor influencing yield. Click here to see Dr. Below’s 7 Wonders of the Corn World, which are the seven factors that have the most influence on yield.

It’s been said that a 1,000 variables affect a crop from the time seed is planted in the spring until grain is harvested that fall.  The 2011 growing season certainly put that theory to the test!

Many Midwest growers planted their crops much later than they would’ve liked because heavy spring rainfalls prevented them from getting in the fields any sooner.  Just when plants started to look really good across much of the country, several thousand crop acres were hit by straight-line winds in July and August.  Then, adding insult to injury, many of these same areas suffered from excessive heat and lack of moisture during a key period of crop development in late summer.  In addition to these challenging growing season conditions, this fall many fields suffered from an early frost plus were subject to rapid dry down from above-normal fall temperatures.

Environmental conditions in 2011 certainly weakened corn stalks and predisposed ears to drop at the shank.  It’s no wonder that Wallaces Farmer reports corn lodging is a greater problem than normal, with 21% of Iowa’s corn crop experiencing moderate to heavy lodging compared to 10% on average.  And 10% of Iowa’s corn crop is experiencing moderate to heavy ear droppage compared to 5% normally.

Although stalk rot is the cause of lodging in most cases, they are not the only cause.  Below are other reasons for early ear droppage:

• Damage to conventional hybrids by European Corn Borer. Ears that have dropped and still have husks on them are typically caused by European corn borer.
• Nutrient imbalances and/or deficiencies predispose corn plants to stalk rot and stalk lodging. Potassium deficiency has been shown to reduce stalk quality and strength, and stalk rot resistance.
• When fast dry down occurs, the ear shank may not develop properly.  Sometimes a shank gets pinched if there are a lot of aborted kernels near the butt of the ear, thus leading to poor attachment and wind causes ears to drop.

Several environmental factors contributed to the higher amount of ear droppage this fall.  While we can’t control Mother Nature, we can help minimize its effects through hybrid selection.  When making purchasing decisions for the 2012 growing season, remember that not all hybrids offer the same degree of stalk strength and some are more susceptible than others to stalk rot.  Search for the strongest genetic package that delivers the traits needed to fit your particular growing situation.

At Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds, we partner with our farmer-customers to identify the traits necessary for their growing conditions, above- and/or below-ground pests and weed control options.  A new option for corn growers in 2012 is Refuge in a Bag (RIB), which makes the complex world of refuge simple.  The RIB concept involves mixing the refuge seed with both the corn borer and rootworm insect protected corn seed, so growers have everything they need to be refuge compliant in just one bag. Growers no longer need to weigh adjacent versus in-field configurations; they can simply open the bag and pour. Growers will be able to purchase the first single-bag RIB solution for the 2012 season from Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds.  Genuity® SmartStax® RIB Complete™ Corn, a blend of 95% traited seed and 5% refuge seed.  With only 5% refuge seed, you’ll be able to protect more of your acres from corn borer in the year ahead.