More on Narrow Row Corn

Recently I shared information that R. L. Nielsen of Purdue presented on narrow row and high population corn.  What I gleaned from Dr. Neilsen's information is that it may not be critical to profits to make a move to narrow rows or very high populations.  Long time readers know that in winter time to catch up on my reading.  Today I was reading the October issue of Prairie Farmer.  If you do not subscribe, I would suggest going to their web site and checking out the whole magazine for October.

Two articles on higher corn populations caught my eye.  This article on 4 products that point to the future includes a brief look at Marion Calmer's 12 inch row corn head.  Calmer's quote caught my eye because at the Farm Progress show this year, I heard Greg Sauder say almost exactly the same thing.

Another article out of Indiana asks Just How High Corn Populations Will Go?  A young Pioneer Seeds agronomist is look at pushing populations to push yields.  She admits that the genetics has not caught up with the idea, but she also demonstrated a 40 bushel yield increase in going from populations of 35,000 to populations of 55,000. 

We also know people who have gone to narrower rows, 15 to 20 inches.  Some of them have been using narrow rows successfully for a long time.  I have not seen any research that says the narrow rows will cost yields.  One advantage of going narrower is in soybean production.  Research is clear on soybeans.  Narrower is better.  One of the complaints I hear concerning narrow row soybeans is that needing an extra planter is holding people back from narrow row soybeans.  A way to overcome that objections would be to go to narrower row corn too.  It is difficult to dispute Nielsen's findings on corn, but producers who are looking to upgrade machinery may want to consider narrower rows to take advantge of the clear yield boost in soybeans.