January 15, 2021

Channel® Brand Corn Product Response to Irrigation and Seeding Rate

TRIAL OBJECTIVE

Across western Kansas and Colorado, the ability of farmers to irrigate is being limited either due to reductions in pumping capacity or restrictions on the amount of water producers can pump over a certain time frame. Therefore, it is imperative that Bayer evaluates corn products under varying irrigation rates to provide better corn product recommendations.

Location	Yuma, CO Bethune, CO Mingo, KS
Soil Type	Sandy loam Sandy loam Silt loam
Previous Crop	Corn Soybeans Soybeans
Tillage Type	Strip tillage

At three testing locations, five Channel® corn products were planted at 24,000, 32,000, 36,000, 40,000, 44,000 and 50,000 seeds/acre under 100% FI (full irrigation meeting the evapotranspiration needs of the crop. At 50% FI (half of the full irrigation rate per irrigation), the same five Channel corn products were planted at 18,000, 28,000, 32,000, 36,000, 40,000, and 48,000 seeds/acre.
Yuma, CO received 7.5” of rainfall throughout the growing season.
Bethune, CO received 10.1” of rainfall throughout the growing season.
Mingo, KS received 11.8” of rainfall throughout the growing season.
FI treatments received an average additional 8.1 inches of irrigated water per acre.

Each corn product and seeding rate was replicated twice per irrigation treatment.
Each location was irrigated with a variable rate center pivot system with nozzles placed within the crop canopy.

Table 1. Average yield of Channel® corn products tested by seeding rate and irrigation treatment.

Figure 1. Average corn product yield by seeding rate at 50% full irrigation.

Figure 2. Average corn product yield by seeding rate at full irrigation.

Average yield per thousand plants (YTP) was highest at the lower seeding rates for each irrigation treatment. For this trial, maintaining the YTP around the 6.5 to 8 bushels per thousand plants obtained the highest potential yield for that corn product in a particular growing environment.
Across all corn products and planting rates the extra 8.1 inches of irrigation applied to the FI treatment yielded an extra 44.5 bu/acre, 222.3 bu/acre average at full irrigation and 177.8 bu/acre at half irrigation.
Across all products at the 50% FI rate, maximum average yield was achieved at the 36,000 seeds/acre seeding rate (206.4 bu/acre) and at the 100% FI rate maximum average yield was seen at 36,000 seeds/acre seeding rate (239.6bu/acre).

Corn products respond differently when planted to different seeding rates and under drought stress.

Producers should discuss with their seed supplier when selecting what corn products and planting rates would best fit the seasonal potential rainfall and irrigation capacity.

1021_R8_20

January 22, 2019

Because corn products have different responses to plant population and water availability, producers should choose the corn products that help maximize their return based on the irrigation availability for each field. Factors to keep in mind are pumping costs versus the overall potential yield.
Knowing the field production potential and irrigation capabilities can help determine the corn products to plant and the seeding rates for those products. In a fully irrigated environment, in which the amount of water applied meets the evapotranspiration needs of the crop, a higher seeding rate and a longer-season corn product can have a higher yield potential. In a limited irrigation environment, one key is to plant a corn product with high yield potential using lower seeding rates.
The objective of this study was to determine the yield response of key Channel® brand corn products for the region based on seeding rates and irrigation amount.

Four Channel® brand corn products were planted at 24,000, 32,000, 36,000, 40,000, 44,000, and 50,000 seeds/acre under full irrigation (100% FI). At 50% of FI, the same corn products were planted at 18,000, 28,000, 32,000, 36,000, 40,000, and 48,000 seeds/acre.
The yield goals for these experiments were 250 bu/acre for the 100% FI and 190 bu/acre for the 50% of FI treatments.
Each corn product at the selected seeding rate was replicated twice in each irrigation treatment.
This location was irrigated with a center pivot system with nozzles placed in the crop canopy.
- 10 inches was applied to the 100% FI treatment
- 5 inches was applied to the 50% of FI treatment
15 inches of rainfall was received at the Mingo, KS site during the growing season.
This trial was replicated at Bethune, CO but received severe hail damage (100% defoliation at R3) and was not harvested for yield data.

Yield per thousand plants (YPT) was the highest at the lower seeding rates for each irrigation treatment; however, yield was not maximized at these seeding rates. This study shows that keeping the YPT around 7 to 8 bu/thousand plants is more likely to obtain a higher yield for that corn product in a particular-growing environment.
Averaged across all corn products and seeding rates the extra 5 inches of irrigation applied to the 100% FI treatment yielded an extra 22 bu/acre (244.3 bu/acre [100% FI average yield] minus 222.3 bu/acre [50% of FI average yield]).
Across all products at the 50% of FI rate, the highest yield was achieved at the 36,000 seeds/acre seeding rate (230.6 bu/acre). At the 100% FI rate, the highest yield was observed at the 40,000 seeds/acre seeding rate (254.0 bu/acre).

Because the number of farms with limited irrigation has increased due to reductions in pumping capacity or restrictions on the amount of water producers can pump over a certain time frame, it is imperative that Bayer tests corn products under varying irrigation rates to help provide better corn product recommendations by irrigation capacity.

1021_R2

Yes