By ANN HINCH
Assistant Editor

VIRDEN, Ill. — The highest-yielding corn in a Macoupin County, Ill., full-season Farmer’s Independent Research of Seed Technologies (F.I.R.S.T.) test was also one of the test’s highest retainers of moisture at the time of harvest.

The Dairyland 9414Q variety, which yielded the highest number of bushels per acre – 246.6 – of 81 tested varieties, had a moisture content of 25.1 percent when harvested late last month. Only one other variety in the same test had higher, at 26 percent, and that was the third highest-yielding at 241 bushels per acre: Wyffels W8681.

Coming in second for yield, at 241.8 bushels per acre, was FS Seeds FS61BV3 variety. Its moisture was a few points lower, at 21.4 percent.

The testing, conducted on a plot at Roger Ladage’s Virden farm, was seeded in moderately drained, non-irrigated silt loam with conventional fall till. The soil is notable in that it has been planted with corn for more than two years previously, as well.

Eric Beyers, F.I.R.S.T. test manager for the South Central Corn Belt, reported the moisture in the test corn was lower than in some regions he covers (including eastern Iowa, Illinois and southern Wisconsin). In some parts the moisture content was around 32 percent, but “good drying weather” in early November subsequently dropped such corn to the mid-20s percentages range.

The early-season test varieties had absorbed less moisture at the time of harvest on Oct. 26. Topping the list was NuTech Seed 3T-110, with 258.9 bushels per acre and a moisture content of 21 percent.

Coming in second was Fielders Choice variety NG6726, with 257.2 bushels per acre and 20.3 percent moisture. Third was Beck 5442VT3, at 253.9 bushels and 20.9 percent moisture.

Both the full- and early-season tests were planted on May 19 at a rate of 36,600 seeds per acre. The early test yielded a harvest of 33,605 plants per acre by Oct. 26, while the full-season produced 33,557.

According to Beyers, Ladage reported his combine monitor showed yields as high as 270 bushels per acre, and as low as 0-20, depending on the spot being harvested. The low-yielding spots had too much rainwater standing and lodging at these sites was primarily at the root.