How Much Money is Uneven Corn Emergence Costing You?

How much money is uneven corn emergence costing you?

To answer to this question, we started with emergence flagging. We measured out 1/1000th of an acre and flagged all of the "Day 1" emerging plants with a colored flag. The next day, we came back and flagged all of the "Day 2" emerging plants with a different color of flag. We did this for a couple more days or until all the plants had emerged at each of the 32 locations.

Around harvest time, we then went back to the 32 locations and hand harvested all of the ears and marked them with a colored marker that would help us to identify which day of emergence that corn ear had grown on. All of the corn ears were individually weighed and tested for moisture percentage. Using a mathimatical formula we were able to figure out the average yield of "Day 1" plants, "Day 2" plants, and so on.

After 3 years of On-Farm studies across 96 locations in South Central MN, the average yield loss per day is 17.5 bushels per acre. This means that corn plants emerging on "Day 1" have NO yield penalty from the time of emergence. "Day 2" emerging plants have an average of 17.5 bu/ac loss compared to "Day 1" emerging plants. While "Day 3" plants have a 35 bu/ac loss compared to "Day 1" plants.

The truth is, as much as we would like to have 100% of plants emerge uniformly, it is very highly unlikely. The photo below shows one of the locations where we did this study. Notice the different colors depicting uneven emergence.

What can you do to help prevent late-emerging corn plants?

Here are a few tips:

1. Some corn hybrids have very rapid emergence and/or very good stress emergence. Choosing a hybrid with these characteristics will certainly help.

2. Do an emergence flag test! Find out how uniform your stand really is! Precision Planting will even send you a FREE flagging kit to get started!

3. Make sure to have sufficient down pressure and consistent planting depth. Having uneven planting depth is like giving someone a headstart in a race.

4. Close your furrow! Bust apart the side wall compaction and do a great job of closing the seed trench. This prevents the furrow from reopening in dry post-plant conditions.

5. Find moisture and plant into it! (within reason of course).

6. If your planter is equipped with a liquid fertilizer system, a starter fertilizer is a great way to give your seed a boost!

You can order a free flagging kit on the link below!

https://www.precisionplanting.com/agronomy/research/free-emergence-flagging-kit

Thanks for reading!