The zero doesn't sound good. Wish the best for you. We have been very lucky - way low on rainfall here but what we have got has been reasonably timely and really done a lot of good. I would never have imagined our corn would look as good as it does with so little water. Stalk strength sure isn't going to be anything to brag about as I think the plant has sucked everything out to the ear.

I would take exception to cutting costs if more important to profitability. That is fine as long as the cost cutting does not reduce yield more than the savings. There is a fine line where a little too much costs cut causes yield loss and that can cause profitability to go the wrong direction fast.

You are quite probably in kind of an opposite situation as me. You are looking at cutting costs where you are wasting seed. I am looking at raising yields in our better ground. I think they are both good approaches for out respective needs but I think if you tried what I am or I tried to accomplish what you are we would both come out poorly - different management strategies for different conditions but using the same technique (VR planting) to acomplish them. If I cut seed costs too much on my normally poorer ground in the one or two years out of five when that ground yields almost as much as the rest of the field I would loose all or more that I had gained in the other years. I pretty much stay at university recomended population levels on my poor ground and go up from there.

John