Corn Product Characterization: Response to Planting Populations

Corn Product Characterization Response to Different Planting Populations - 2020

Trial Objective

For over a decade, Bayer has been using an innovative planter technology, the Genotype by Environment Narrative planter (GEN), to help understand and characterize corn product performance in response to plant population and location. This internally-developed tool provides the technical field teams the ability to simultaneously plant multiple corn products at different seeding rates across a field. These unique planting capabilities generate over 100,000 detailed yield observations each season across diverse growing conditions. This program provides data for our agronomy experts to optimize product performance and recommendations for all corn-growing regions in the United States. The objectives of this research were to:

• Evaluate all new Bayer corn products using seeding rates ranging from 18,000 to 50,000 seeds/acre across multiple locations in the United States.

• Provide growers with product-specific planting recommendations.

• Assess new products in as many yield environments as possible over a two-year period.

• Provide growers with insight for their specific situation and the product they selected.

Research Details

• This research included 123 testing locations across the United States.
• The products tested were selected by the regional field teams as important in that geography.
• Testing locations targeted diverse environments (yield environment, crop rotation, tillage practice, etc.).
• Agronomic management practices used in this study mimicked local best management practices.
• Products tested were both first-year commercial and pre-commercial corn products.  
• The experimental design was a split-plot randomized complete block (RCB) with 2 replications. Corn product was the main plot and seeding rate was the sub plot.
• Small plots were used: four 35-foot rows per plot with a row width of 30 inches.
• Seeding rates were as follows:  
  • Low-yielding acres: 18,000, 24,000, 28,000, 32,000, 38,000, and 44,000 seeds/acre
  • High-yielding acres: 24,000, 32,000, 36,000, 40,000, 44,000, and 50,000 seeds/acre

Understanding the Results

• Product-specific data on the response to plant population allows for customized recommendations for new corn products specific for a grower’s geography. 

• Multiple years of data allow agronomists to determine the influence of weather on corn product performance. This adds to the robustness of the recommendations generated in this system. 

• The relative responsiveness of a product to plant population can change depending on the yield environment and management.