By DAVE BLOWER JR.
Farm World Editor

VERSAILLES, Ohio — Cold temperatures and heavy rain impacted the yields of a corn-hybrid test site in Western Ohio during this past growing season.

The test, conducted by Farmer’s Independent Research of Seed Technologies (F.I.R.S.T.), was on the Darke County, Ohio farm of Ron Wulber. The soil was a sandy clay loam with a 1 percent slope. It was a conventional-till field, and it was moderately well drained.
“Emergence was uneven and thinned due to heavy rain and cold temperatures,” reported F.I.R.S.T. manager Rich Schleuning. “Moistures of the corn were sporadic from the uneven emergence. The high lodging scores are from the high winds of Hurricane Ike. There was stalk rot present.”

A pair of Dyna-Gro hybrids took the top two spots in the early-season test. Dyna-Gro 57V98 earned a yield of 155.6 bushels per acre, and Dyna-Gro 56V04 followed with 152.6 bu./acre.

Finishing third in this test was Pfister hybrid 2663VT3 at 148.9 bu./acre.

In the late-season test, the yields were considerably higher.
AgriGold hybrid A6489VT3 earned the highest mark by nearly 10 bushels per acre more than its nearest competitor. This AgriGold product generated 187.4 bu./acre. The estimated gross income per acre for this hybrid was $930.90.

DeKalb hybrid DKC63-42 was second with 178.6 bu./acre, and Beck’s hybrid 6733HXTRR came in third with 177.6 bu./acre.
Schleuning said he planted the test site at a rate of 31,000 seeds per acre on May 1. He harvested an estimated 27,500 plants per acre on Oct. 10.

The previous crop on this field was soybeans treated with Roundup.
A list of all the hybrids in this test is available at www.firstseedtests.com