Part 1, Section 4: Corn

Section 4 Table of Contents

A mature ear of corn

Corn

ESTABLISHMENT

Tillage systems

A variety of tillage systems can be used to establish the corn crop successfully. Each system has advantages and disadvantages that should be considered for individual situations. Conventional tillage (plow plus disk and/or harrow), minimum tillage (chisel plow plus disk, disk plus disk), and no-till are three basic tillage systems used in Pennsylvania. See Section 1, “Soil Management and Tillage,” for more details. Increasingly, Pennsylvania farmers are using no-till methods for growing corn. Below are ten key points associated with successful no-till production.

  1. Select a hybrid with a high degree of disease resistance Utilized Bt hybrids to ensure against pest infestations particular to your area of production. Pay attention to hybrids with aggressive emergence scores and cold germination percentages.
  2. Increase seeding rates by 10 percent plus germination loss to ensure adequate stands.
  3. Use seed treatments commercially applied preferred containing a fungicide and insectide delivered directly on the seed piece.
  4. Modify planter to ensure proper cutting coulter, closing wheel and starter system is utilized.
  5. Use narrow depth gauge wheels (15 inch rows), narrow row cleaners, and seed firmers to avoid issues with depth and to clear a small path to alleviate slug issues.
  6. Use a starter fertilizer to ensure aggressive growth at germination to alleviate slug issues.
  7. Utilize cover crops to avoid compaction issues, increase organic matter, smother weeds, and with legumes-produce addition N.
  8. Soil test—Be sure all nutrients are balanced and pay attention particularly to pH. Check pH at 2 inch depth yearly.
  9. Manage residue starting from the combine the goal to spread the residue as evenly across the field so that the planter depth can be maintained at a set depth and have even depth of planting to ensure even emergence.
  10. Start clean utilize a burn down product and be sure planter can plant into cover crop at the height of burndown. Consider two pass weed management programs to offer weed management options.