Test Plots
The ROI of nitrogen (N) is significant—an extra 20 lb. costs less than 2 bu. of corn. That doesn’t mean you throw on some extra N and hope for the best.
The first step in maximizing yield is choosing the right hybrids for your fields.
Combining plot efforts with one common goal—to increase soybean yields—Farm Journal Field Agronomists Ken Ferrie and Missy Bauer continued multiyear efforts in central Illinois and southern Michigan to evaluate multiple factors that affect yield components. In 2014, the trials included soybean cyst nematode, how to control white mold and evaluating if starter fertilizer pays in yield.
More than 20 years of Farm Journal Test Plot research has revealed a thing or two about corn and soybean row spacings—and the learning continues.
Results from field trials show placement drives starter response
For more than a decade, the Farm Journal Test Plots has varied corn populations and nitrogen rates to respond to natural management zones in the field. In 2012, the crew added variable-rate irrigation to its site-specific farming portfolio.
Deciding where to place N—in the middle of the row with a coulter or next to the plant using Y-Drop—involves the following considerations:
In 2010, the Farm Journal Test Plots program harvested its 19th year of third-party, independent demonstration research.
With every crop year comes a new batch of technologies that are put to task in the Farm Journal Test Plots.
Farm Journal Test Plots build on knowledge of timing and placement to dig deeper with starter formulations.