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Burlington, IA | Hi Scott. I'm a sales mgr in the seed business, so I'll throw my .02 in here. It depends a lot on the ear type whether you have too much population or not. If you have a hybrid with a good ear flex, 27K isn't bad, it'll make up any difference. If you have a fixed ear type that has a blocky ear 18-22 rows around, then no, 27K isn't generally enough. Those ear types should be planted at more like 30-33K to get the yield, because conditions could be perfect, and those fixed ear types are only going to get so big. Your N level isn't that bad. Part of your problem is that, unless you're on bottom ground, most of northern MO is underlaid with clay pan or hard pan, whatever you want to call it. Unless I miss my guess, a large part of your reason for the 27K pop is to protect yourself if it turns dry. Because in that hard pan ground, if it's dry, moisture can't move up to be available, and if it's wet, the moisture can't get away, and either way, you have a problem. If you get rains just right through the season on that type of ground, you can grow a great crop. I'm guessing you're erring on the side of dry weather, where your pop is concerned. The fixed ear hybrids generally have lots of stress tolerance, so a higher pop shouldn't be that much of a worry. Likewise, some flex ear hybrids are workhorse types with lots of stress tolerance, and higher pops aren't a big concern with them, either. Your plant height is largely determined by genetics, although planting date, and available moisture also play a part. A lot of race horse types tend to be taller, workhorse types tend to medium height, and fixed ear workhorse types tend to shorter height, although some of the newest fixed ears types are gaining some height. I'm not going to jump to conclusions as the previous poster has, because it's a "here" thing. Clay pan/hard pan soils can be a bear to manage. I'm not that far away from you in IA, and I've seen it all before. I'd say keep doing what you're doing, just pay close attention to your ear type. I hope you continue to get rain when you need it to finish this crop. Good luck, and stay cool. Regards, JDH | |
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Quadris/Select Combo
