Progress 07/27/15 to 06/30/20
Outputs
Target Audience:Mississippi corn producers, private agricultural consultants, retail industry and agricultural industry all benefit from educational, research and scholarly activities supported by these efforts. Needs are also identified and communicated with research colleagues who can further investigate limitations. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?This research was conducted as part of the training in graduate student degree programs. Furthermore, producers, extension agents, research scientists, crop consultants and industry colleagues responsible for corn management are exposed to numerous professional development opportunities during various educational activities, professional conferences and individual contact. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Professional presentations have been delivered to scientists, growers, consultants, and industry at scientific conferences and competitions, University educational programs and publications, and industry conferences, meetings and field days. The lead investigator, graduate students, research associate, and other colleagues have also had numerous field consultations with growers, consultants and industry personnel addressing similar real-world field issues. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Mississippi growers often have substantial issues with corn planting and seedling establishment due to saturated and cool soils, which may reduce productivity. Our first objective was to quantify yield reduction associated with variable seedling emergence. Four treatment patterns of alternating or consecutive growth disparity and four different emergence delays were evaluated at a standard plant density. Data indicated pattern of emergence disparity had no effect on the outcome of results. However, the extent of emergence or growth disparity did reduce corn productivity by hampering plant development. Plant height and stalk diameter of delayed planted were reduce by growth disparity resulting from delayed emergence. This indicates these late-emerging plants were at a competitive disadvantage for light, water and nutrients compared to their uniform neighbors. This growth disparity reduced the yield of late-emerging plants up to 47%. In our studies, late-emerging plants comprised 53% of the entire stand. Accordingly, the corn yield of the cumulative or entire stand was reduced up to 18% when growth disparity was severe. A major limitation regarding application of such research and knowledge is that there is no established or standardized method to characterize corn emergence or growth disparity in the field. Thus, our objective was to evaluate and identify a reasonable method for farmers and crop consultants to characterize corn growth disparity shortly after emergence. Several researchers have referenced emergence delay treatments by number days. However, corn growth is determined by heat unit accumulation, which can vary tremendously depending on the day, time of year, and temperature, and thus, is not consistent or practical for crop advisors. Therefore, we evaluated several methods of measuring corn growth and determined that the Droopy leaf method of growth staging gave the most precision and consistency of plant growth disparity during early vegetative growth, compared to growth staging using the leaf collar method, or measuring plant height differences. Corn plants that emerge later than others reduce productivity, and thus, also need to be accounted for when assessing marginal stands. These late-emerging plants will lag in growth throughout the season creating disproportionate competition between plants for resources, which reduces crop yield potential. Our findings indicated that growth disparity threshold of two leaf stages reduced yield 10% and increased up to 18% for three leaf stages. In summary, growth disparity can reduce corn productivity similar to losses associated with low plant density stemming from seedling mortality. Correlated research investigated replanting methods associated with unacceptable corn stands. Two different series of treatments were imposed to evaluate the productivity of intra-planting seed in partial substandard corn stands, compared to a control. Corn grain yield was 11% greater when replanting in a clean seedbed, compared to all intra-planted treatments. Thus, it is absolutely imperative for growers to destroy the remaining live corn plants with either tillage or herbicides, before replanting an unacceptable stand. Replanting into a partial corn stand will produce severe competition between the two drastically different ages of corn plants, severely limiting yield potential.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Larson, E. "Optimizing Corn Response to Planting Methods." Oral Presentation. National Conservation Systems - Corn / Soybean Conference, MidAmerica Farm Publications, Memphis, Tennessee. January 30, 2020.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Larson, E. "Optimizing Corn Response to Planting Methods." Oral Presentation. National Conservation Systems - Corn / Soybean Conference, MidAmerica Farm Publications, Memphis, Tennessee. January 31, 2020.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Larson, E. "Intensive Corn Management - Optimizing Corn Stands." Oral Presentation. Mississippi Agricultural Consultants Annual Conference, Mississippi State, Mississippi. February 4, 2020.
- Type:
Websites
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Larson, E. "Corn Planting Recommendations for 2020." Mississippi Crop Situation Blog, Mississippi State University Extension. www.Mississippi-Crops.com.
- Type:
Websites
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Larson, E. "Top Five Management Strategies to Improve Corn Profitability." Mississippi Crop Situation Blog, Mississippi State University Extension. www.Mississippi-Crops.com.
- Type:
Websites
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Larson, E. "New methods to assess corn stands and make replant decisions."
Mississippi Crop Situation Blog, Mississippi State University Extension. www.Mississippi-Crops.com
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Progress 10/01/18 to 09/30/19
Outputs
Target Audience:Mississippi corn producers, private agricultural consultants, retail industry and agricultural industry all benefit from educational, research and scholarly activities supported by these efforts. Needs are also identified and communicated with research colleagues who can further investigate limitations. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?This project is being conducted as part of the training in a graduate student's MS degree research program. Furthermore, producers, extension agents, research scientists, crop consultants and industry colleagues responsible for corn management are exposed to numerous professional development opportunities during various educational activities, professional conferences and individual contact. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Professional presentations have been delivered to scientists, growers, consultants, and industry at scientific conferences and competitions, University educational programs and publications, and industry conferences, meetings and field days. The lead investigator, graduate student, research associate, and other colleagues have also had numerous field consultations with growers, consultants and industry personnel addressing similar real-worldcropping systemissues. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?This research should evaluate how various management practices may improve corn seedling establishment and growth, which has been documented to be a substantial limiting factor for corn producers who commonly experience frequent spring rainfall, common in the Southeast region of the United States.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Studies were conducted to evaluate how altering management practices may improve corn seedling establishment, development and productivity. Early planting is an important component of high corn productivity, but southern growers are recurrently challenged by adverse environmental conditions during the spring planting season which hamper seedling growth and lead to stand variability and other developmental issues. Furthermore, recent research associated with this project has shown corn is very sensitive to developmental disparity created during seedling establishment. Thus, this research was initiated to evaluate how seeding depth and raised bed height may affect corn seedling establishment and development, since these factors both directly affect water relations and ambient soil temperature encountered. We evaluated corn planted at four seed depths varying from 1 ½ to 3 ¼ inches and grown on three raised bed heights. Preliminary results indicate moderate planting depth and higher raised bed height increase corn seedling emergence rate and stand uniformity. Deep seeding depth and shallow bed height assuredly increase soil moisture content and exposure to soil saturation, where anaerobic conditions may stunt seedling growth and increase seedling mortality. Likewise, deeper seeding depth and small beds reduce soil temperature immediately encompassing the seed, which diminish seedling growth rate and vigor.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Stapleton, N. and E. Larson. Evaluation of practices which may improve corn stand establishment. Oral Presentation. Mid-South Association of Wheat and Feed Grain Scientists - 35th Annual Meeting, MAWFGS, Mississippi State, MS. August 5, 2019.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
E. Larson. "Improving Impact of Corn Planting Inputs." MSU Row Crop Short Course, Mississippi State University Extension, Mississippi State University - Cotton Mill Conference Center. December 4, 2019.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Stapleton, N. and E. Larson. Improving Corn Stands by Adapting Planting Practices. Southern Section of American Society of Agronomy Annual Meetings, Birmingham, Alabama. Feb. 4, 2019.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
E. Larson. Managing water to enhance corn yields and profitability. Mid-South Association of Wheat and Feed Grain Scientists - 35th Annual Meeting, MAWFGS, Mississippi State, MS. August 5, 2019.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
E. Larson. "Integrating Technology to Improve Corn Production." Mississippi Agricultural Consultants Annual Conference. Mississippi State, MS. February 6, 2019.
- Type:
Websites
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
E. Larson. "New Methods to Assess Corn Stands and Make Replant Decisions." Mississippi Crop Situation. mississippi-crops.com April 22, 2019.
- Type:
Websites
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
E. Larson. "Overcoming Challenges to Plant the 2019 Corn Crop." Mississippi Crop Situation. mississippi-crops.com February 25, 2019.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
E. Larson. Irrigation and Agronomic Practices that Improve Corn Grain Yield. Mississippi Chapter of the American Society of Agronomy, Summer Meeting, Delta Research and Extension Center, Stoneville, MS. June 27, 2019.
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Progress 10/01/17 to 09/30/18
Outputs
Target Audience:Mississippi corn producers, private agricultural consultants, retail industry and agricultural industry all benefit from educational, research and scholarly activities supported by these efforts. Needs are also identified and communicated with research colleagues who can further investigate limitations. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?This project is being conducted as part of the training in a graduate student's MS degree research program. Furthermore, producers, Extension agents, research scientists, crop consultants and industry colleagues responsible for corn management are exposed to numerous professional development opportunities during various educational activities, professional conferences and individual contact. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Professional presentations have been delivered to scientists, growers, consultants, and industry at scientific conferences and competitions, University educational programs and publications, and industry conferences, meetings and field days. The lead investigator, graduate student, research associate, and other colleagues have also had numerous field consultations with growers, consultants and industry personnel addressing similar real-world field issues. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Identify relevant factors that contribute to growth disparity and other forms of stand failure so that corn producers can alleviate those issues which routinely increase risk and reduce corn productivity.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Research studies were conducted to investigate various corn stand issues that frequently challenge Mississippi growers. Field studies were conducted at multiple field locations with and without supplemental irrigation to simulate corn production systems common in this region. The first research objective was to evaluate the productivity of late-emerging corn plants, compared to other plants. Emergence variability was achieved by hand-planting individual plants at delayed dates relative to normal plants. Four different patterns differing in the number of late-emerging plants were employed to simulate a wide-range of variability which naturally occur in corn fields. Pattern of emergence variability treatments did not significantly affect corn productivity. However, plants which emerged later than others and thus, suffered growth disparity, experienced considerable yield loss. Results showed grain yield of late-emerging plants was reduced to 47%, compared to uniform plants. Yield loss increased with increasing disparity in growth for late-emerging plants. Late-emerging plants interspersed within an otherwise normal stand reduced corn yield 10 to 18% when the growth disparity was 2 to 3 leaf stages, respectively. Another objective was to evaluate different corn replanting methods. Corn grown in the southeast region of the United States is normally grown on raised beds to enhance drainage, however, the presence of beds prohibits tillage as an option to control a failed stand. Therefore producers are left with the option to keep the original stand, to replant into the existing stand, or to terminate with specific herbicides and replant. This research shows replanting corn into a clean seedbed was 11% more productive than intra-planting into an existing stand. Our evaluation of two different intra-planting methods, differing in seeding rate, produced no significant grain yield difference between the two methods. Intra-planted corn was less productive than normal stands likely due to significant competition between plants with a 3-4 leaf stage development disparity. This conclusion is supported by results showing reduced stalk diameters and plant height for intra-planted treatments, compared to normal stands. These results reiterate the importance of terminating substandard initial stands, when replanting corn is necessary.
Publications
- Type:
Theses/Dissertations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
K.A. Pettit. May 2018. Evaluating the effects of variable corn seedling emergence and replanting methods for substandard corn stands. Masters Thesis, Mississippi State University.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
E.J. Larson. 2/7/2018. New findings to make better corn replant decisions. Mississippi Agricultural Consultants Association Annual Meetings, Mississippi State, MS.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
E.J. Larson. 12/5/18. Corn Seed Depth Impacts on Soil-Water Relations. 2018 MSU Row Crop Short Course, Starkville, MS.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
N.K. Stapleton and E.J. Larson. 8/13/2018. Practices which may improve corn emergence. Mid-South Association of Wheat and Feed Grain Scientists Conference. Madison, AL.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
E.J. Larson. 12/5/2017. "Water Relations and Effects on Record Corn Yield." 2017 MSU Row Crop Short Course, Starkville, MS.
- Type:
Websites
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
E.J. Larson. 3/10/2018. Tips for planting high yielding corn. Mississippi Crop Situation Blog. www.mississippi-crops.com.
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Progress 10/01/16 to 09/30/17
Outputs
Target Audience:Mississippi corn producers, agricultural consultants, retail industry and agricultural industry all benefit from educational, research and scholarly activities supported by these efforts. Needs are identified and communicated with research colleagues who can further investigate limitations. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?This project is being conducted as part of the training in a graduate student's MS degree research program. Extension agents, research scientists, and industry colleagues are exposed to numerous professional development opportunities during various educational activities, professional conferences and individual contact. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Professional presentations have been delivered to scientists at a professional conference and a university graduate student poster competition, and growers, industry and scientists at a university field day. The lead investigator, graduate student, research associate, and other colleagues have also had numerous field consultations with growers, consults and industry personnel addressing similar real-world field issues. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Identify relevant factors that reduce productivity of a corn stand and characterize how to assess them so that farmers and consultants can better assess marginal corn stands and make knowledgeable replanting decisions.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Research studies were conducted to investigate various corn stand issues that frequently challenge Mississippi growers. Field studies were conducted at multiple field locations with and without supplemental irrigation to simulate corn production systems common in this region. The first research objective was to evaluate the productivity of late-emerging corn plants, compared to other plants. Emergence variability was achieved by hand-planting individual plants at delayed dates relative to normal plants. Four different patterns differing in the number of late-emerging plants were employed to simulate a wide-range of variability which naturally occur in corn fields. Results showed yields of late-emerging plants suffered up to 47% yield loss, compared to uniform plants. Yield loss increased with increasing disparity in growth for late-emerging plants. Pattern of emergence variability treatments did not significantly affect corn productivity. Another objective was to evaluate different corn replanting methods. Southern corn is normally grown on raised beds to enhance drainage, however, the presence of beds prohibits tillage as an option to control a failed stand. Therefore producers are left with the option to keep the original stand, to replant into the existing stand, or to terminate with specific herbicides and replant. This research shows replanting corn into a clean seedbed was 11% more productive than intra-planting into an existing stand. Our evaluation of two different intra-planting methods, differing in seeding rate, produced no significant grain yield difference between the two methods. Intra-planted corn was less productive than normal stands likely due to significant competition between plants with a 3-4 leaf stage development disparity. This conclusion is supported by results showing reduced stalk diameters and plant height for intra-planted treatments, compared to normal stands. These results reiterate the importance of terminating substandard initial stands, when replanting corn is necessary.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2017
Citation:
Pettit, A., E. Larson, M. Cox, B. Henry, T. Irby, and A. Catchot. 2017. Evaluation of Corn Replanting Methods for the Mid-South. Southern Section of the American Society of Agronomy Annual Meetings, Mobile, AL.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2016
Citation:
Pettit, A., E. Larson, M. Cox, B. Henry, T. Irby, and A. Catchot. 2017. Evaluation of Corn Replanting Methods for the Mid-South. Department of Plant and Soil Sciences Graduate Student Poster Competition, MSU, MS.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2017
Citation:
E. Larson. 2017. Non-Uniform Stand Reductions. Mississippi Corn Promotion Board Project Brief. Mississippi State, MS.
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Progress 10/01/15 to 09/30/16
Outputs
Target Audience:Mississippi corn producers, agricultural consultants, retail industry and agricultural industry all benefit from educational, research and scholarly activities supported by these efforts. Needs are also identified and communicated with research colleagues who can further investigate limitations. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?This project is being conducted as part of the training in a graduate student's Master of Sciencedegree research program. Extension agents,research scientists, and industrycolleaguesare exposed to numerous professional development opportunities during various educational activities, professionalconferences andindividual contact. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Professional presentations have been delivered to scientists at a conference, and growers, industry and scientists at a university field day. The lead investigator, graduate student, research associate, and other colleagues have also had numerous field consultations with growers, consults and industry personnel addressing similar real-world field issues. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We plan to continue research efforts to generate data necessary to address the project goals. Data representing a range of environmental conditions and cropping culture must be generated to sufficiently address objectives and potential outcomes in the future.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
The first year of research was conducted. Two studies were conducted to address the research objectives using field studies at multiple locations grown in both irrigated and dryland culture to simulate corn production systems common in this region. One study was designed to quantify the negative effect of corn emergence variability compared to uniform emergence and provide the database necessary to develop field-based methodology to characterize a variable stand. Emergence variability was achieved by hand-planting individual plants at delayed intervals relative to normal plants. Four different patterns differing in the number of late-emerging plants were employed to simulate a wide-range of natural variability which may occur in production corn fields. The objective of the second study is to evaluate the productivity of corn when grown in a normal, uniform stand, compared to various replanting methods, including supplementing partial, existing stands. Mississippi corn growers normally grow corn on prepared, raised beds which help alleviate detrimental effects of soil saturation which are common in our high rainfall climate. The presence of these raised beds restrict our ability to use tillage to destroy a partial, failed corn stand. Thus, the only practical method to kill undesired plants is to use chemical herbicides. Using herbicides to kill failed stands involves an additional field trip, expense, and potential complications associated with areas within a field which achieved acceptable stands that do not require replanting. Thus, some growers often replant additional corn seed into partial stands, instead of terminating the failed stand prior to replanting. Thus, we designed this study to evaluate corn productivity using different replanting methods. Treatments included four plant populations planted at a normal time, as well as a replanting time. Corn was also replanted into existing substandard stands using two methods. One series of treatments supplemented the existing stand with enough seed to achieve the original desired plant density, while another series of treatments were replanted with a full seeding rate supplementing the existing stand.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2016
Citation:
E. Larson. 8/9/16. Corn Stand Issues and Replant Decisions. Mid-South Association of Wheat and Feed Grain Scientists Conference. Madison, AL.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2016
Citation:
A. Pettit and E. Larson. 8/11/2016. Evaluation of Replanting Methods for Failed Stands of Corn. Mississippi State University Row Crop Field Day. North Mississippi Research and Extension Center, Verona, MS.
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Progress 07/27/15 to 09/30/15
Outputs
Target Audience:Row crop producers, agricultural consultants, retail industry and agricultural industry will all benefit from educational, research and scholarly activities supported by these efforts. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?A graduate student was assigned to this project as part of the fulfillment of a Master's degree in Agronomy. Undergraduate student workers provided assistance in the research project. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?
Nothing Reported
What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Data is being collected from research trials designed to address these project objectives. 2015 research data will be analyzed, summarized and reviewed. Project methodology may be amended prior to the subsequent research cycle as necessary.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Research trials were initiated in 2015 to address project objectives.
Publications
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