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NE CO | Variety choice is always a gamble because timing of the rains sometimes favors early and sometimes late corn. This year the late rains favored the later maturing corn (103 day for us).
As far as brands, I favor Croplan because their catalog contains a lot of information about their genetics and information about flex, ear type and other. I have had good luck in the past with 296, 364 and 421. Of course this year, the 296 was a bust because it pollinated during the drought, but in a more favorable year it has a nice double earing tendency. This year the Croplan 4664RB and 4421RB were very good. I also liked Dekalb 52-62 this year.
Next year I am wanting to plant more non-RR corn, both as an economy move because of the high price of glyphosate and seed charges, as well as better weed control. I am looking at D52-45 and NK42-B7, an updated version of the old NK42-42 that used to be a favorite in our area, but not much anywhere else. I'm not sure about it's flex capabilities though, as I used to plant the old 42-42 at the higher populations. I have noted that none of the newer genetics are available in non-RR varieties now. Bummer.
Edit: I should add that I keep an eye out for skips or missed parts of rows in my corn. These low population areas will give you good information on whether a variety will set an extra ear and make up for a low population. Also compare good and poor yielding areas of the field and see if the better yielding areas are the result of a second or larger ear for the increased yield. This can help identify good flexing varieties.
Edited by COdrylander 11/24/2008 00:07
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population on dryland corn
