Corn Yield vs. Maturity from 2019
By: Eric Yoder
No one wants to repeat last year by any means, but there are some things to be learned from it. Recently I acquired some data from our friends at Prairie Research in Indiana that shows us some things about hybrid maturity vs. yield when it comes to planting date. As Spring ’19 got later and later, people kept looking for earlier and earlier corn. However, there looks to be a threshold on how early a grower needs to go on corn maturity.
Please note two things: this data was captured in Northern Indiana and Eastern Illinois AND this data set does not show grain moistures in the chart, but the yield data is expressed in dry bushels.
We have known for years that fuller season hybrids, such as 113-115 day RM, have the highest yield potential and the 2019 data clearly supports that. Next look at the 109-112 day RM group. This group also shows advantages in yield over earlier hybrids clear through early June for the test area. However, when we drop down to the 104-108 day RM group, we see that yield potential drops off significantly when we start planting in the middle of May.
So while we cannot prove there is a big advantage to these early hybrids regarding grain moisture, there definitely seems to be a disadvantage when it comes to making the bushels.
Here’s to hoping that Spring 2020 is better than last year. However, this is a good lesson to know for the future. Keep this in mind the next time you are having to “down-shift” your hybrids due to a late Spring!
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