By TIM ALEXANDER
Illinois Correspondent

TREMONT, Ill. — Dekalb DKC61-19 outperformed the competition in a late-season corn hybrid test plot owned by Ken Sauder of Tremont, Ill., in Tazewell County. The hybrid yielded a whopping 267.7 bushels per acre with a gross income average of $1,179.60. DeKalb bested ICORN.com’s 111.6VT3, at 260.2 bu./acre, and Croplan’s 6331VT3 variety, which yielded 253.1 bu./acre, respectively.

The crop was grown on Ipava Silty Clay Loam, in a tract with a 2.0 percent slope and good drainage. Sauder applied 80 lbs. nitrogen as 28 percent (spring), 80-0-12 actual (sidedress) and 18-46-75 actual fall (plowdown). He employed a variety of pest management techniques.

The 36,000-seedling crop was planted corn-after-corn on May 9; 33,200 plants were harvested on Oct. 8.

“Ken’s farm is a great corn-on-corn site,” enthused Farmer’s Independent Research of Seed Technologies (F.I.R.S.T.) plot manager Eric W. Beyers. “His deep fall tillage program allows early corn plant seedlings the opportunity for adequate early root growth.
Beyers added that Sauder’s “Quilt fungicide” offered many of the tested hybrids “continued stay-green growth.” Minimal lodging scores reflected root lodging, he stated.

An early-season test at the Sauder farm showed Dyna-Gro’s 57V40 hybrid stood taller than the competition. Its 248.2 bu./acre yield edged out LG Seeds’ LG2552VT3 variety (247.4 bu./acre) and Lewis’ 810VT3 strain (243.3 bu./acre). Dyna-Gro’s hybrid earned $1,120.00 in gross income.

A list of all hybrids in this test is available at www.firstseedtests.com