Extension Report

Baldwin County Extension Office

302A Byrne Street

Bay Minette, AL  36507

Telephone (251) 937-7176 or

928-0860/943-5611 ext. 2222

FAX (251) 937-7285

Richard Petcher

Regional Extension Agent/Agronomic Crops

February 23, 2010

CORN PRODUCTION TIPS 2010

Corn is the first crop in the spring to be planted in South Alabama.  In 2009, there were 250,000 acres of corn harvested in Alabama, with an average yield of 108 bushels per acre.  There were 15,000 acres of corn harvested with an estimated yield of 115 bushels per acre in Southwest Alabama.  For most growers this was not a good corn production year.   Corn is a good rotation and has less input of time and money than cotton or peanuts.  The risk of drought is a real downer with corn, unless you have irrigation.  Hopefully, this year will bring a bumper crop with no droughts or hurricanes and decent prices.  

Weather is the biggest factor affecting corn; however, there are a number of things that a grower can do to up his odds of making a good crop.

Selecting your corn hybrid is top priority. There are some excellent varieties to choose from.  Is it worth spending ten dollars more for one variety over another?  If that variety yields 10 more bushels per acre than a cheaper variety, over 4 acres that would be 40 more bushels.  At $4.00 per bushel that would be $160 minus the $10 difference in purchasing cost which would be $150 more profit to you by planting the higher yielding, more expensive variety.  If you are planting very much corn, 100 acres or more it is also important to select several hybrids with different maturities to spread out your risks.  

On farm variety testing research can be very helpful.  We conducted two on farm corn hybrid tests in Southwest Alabama last year.  One was on Rod Richardson’s Farm in Washington County and the other on George Swartz’s Farm in Baldwin.  These tests contained 14 of the corn companies’ top hybrids.  These tests were replicated in ten acre trials.  The results of these tests can be found at http://www.alabamacrops.com.

University Corn Variety Test information can be found: Alabama: www.alabamavarietytesting.com  Georgia: http://www.swvt.uga.edu/   Mississippi: http://msucares.com/crops/corn/index.html  Louisiana: www.lsuagcenter.com   The LSU information might be helpful especially to growers in Baldwin and Mobile Counties.

Email address: rpetcher@aces.edu

Phone number: 937-7176 or 943-5061, 928-0860, ext. 2222

The Alabama Cooperative Extension System (Alabama A&M and Auburn Universities) in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture is an equal opportunity educator and employer.