Ask about root type when selecting your corn hybrids
While corn is a grass with a fibrous-type root system, some companies are digging deeper to learn more about roots. Generally speaking, those companies classify roots into three types:
- Fibrous: A mop of finer hairs dominates the top 4" to 6" of the root mass. Fibrous roots don’t grow very deep into the soil profile.
- Coarse or penetrating: These roots grow straight down, pushing deeper into the soil.
- Modified: A marriage between fibrous and coarse, modified roots contain finer hairs that penetrate deeper into the soil.
AgriGold, for example, started to research root type to figure out why certain hybrids could handle wet feet or dry soil. While a lot of the company’s research occurs in sandy soil types, to provide a non-restricted environment, they’ve learned the following to better place products.
”Fibrous hybrids work well in wet, saturated soils,” says John Brien, eastern agronomy manager for AgriGold. ”They can scavenge nutrients during drier periods, but they don’t normally do as well in full-on drought conditions. ”Coarse roots are good for dry sandy soils, but they can have standability issues with a limited footprint at the top.
”As suspected, modified roots have broad acreage appeal,” he adds.
While few farmers pay attention to root types when selecting hybrids, except for maybe those who farm in extreme conditions, Brien says knowing root type can help ”split hairs” between several products in a genetic package.
Did You Know?
Based on Iowa State University research in six corn fields, on average, corn roots grew about 2.75" per leaf stage to a maximum depth of 60". Corn roots initially grew at a slow rate of 0.29" per day up to fifth leaf and from then on at a rate of 1.22" per day until silking stage when maximum depth is reached.
