This is a follow up from a previous post http://talk.newagtalk.com/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=56857&mid=399648#M399648 I had made about an observation on a plugged starter row. Earlier the difference was dramatic and I predicted that there wouldn't be much difference at harvest. Well, I was wrong about that. The plugged row checked out at 83 bpa, and the row that got starter checked out at 112 bpa. I pulled 26 ears (1/1000 of an acre) from the areas I had perviously flagged counted all the kernels and did the proper math. The yield check areas are the exact same as the flagged areas in the pictures.

Now before anyone goes making fun of the tipback and malformed ears, this poor guy got hammered by some pretty rough heat right at silking. Fortunatley, most all the other corn (planted earlier) I yield checked for him today was much better.

Anyway, I thought it was a pretty cool "accidental" experiment. My thoughts are that the starter helped the plant get through the rough period of heat stress better than none at all. My historical observations and bias against the value of starter have mainly been based on pretty high fertility soils and better growing conditions.

Here are some pic's

Orange Flag = Starter   Blue Flag = No Starter   I pulled ears in this exact spot.

Here's the ears I pulled. I counted all the ears even if they weren't so hot. Notice the tipback from the heat stress at pollination.

 Another View.

One more view. Starter = 112 calculated bpa. No Starter = 83 calculated bpa.

Disclaimer: Keep in mind that this is one instance, and one location. So take it for what it is worth. I wouldn't go out and sell starter hog wild based on this one observation, but it is fascinating.