A Recipe for Crappy Stands of Corn
Bob Nielson, Purdue University, offers this tongue-in-cheek recipe on how to get as poor of a stand of corn as possible. Of course he’s not serious, but it does serve as an important reminder that stand establishement is a very important part in raising a good crop. Here’s Bob’s recipe:
Ingredients:
- One (1) field, level and poorly drained.
- One (1) or more hybrids of your choice, but preferably ones with poor seed quality and low vigor.
- Do NOT add any starter fertilizer to the recipe.
- Add a dash of seed rot or seedling blight organisms.
- Add a pinch of wireworms or seedcorn maggots.
- Plenty of spring tillage to maximize soil compaction, though one pass with a disc will suffice if the soil is “on the wet side” when worked.
- Flavor with amide or growth regulator herbicides as desired.
- Add minimum of 0.5 to 1.0 inch of rain per week after planting to maintain saturated soil condition.
Mix well and plant early or any time before soils have consistently warmed to more than 50oF. Maintain average daily soil temperatures at 50oF or less for three weeks or more after planting. Plant “on the wet side” to ensure good sidewall compaction. Plant either excessively deep or excessively shallow. Plant as fast as you possibly can to ensure uneven seed drop. For best results, follow corn with corn, especially with minimal fall tillage. Top off with a thick soil crust and serve cold.
Will serve 6 people (farmer, fertilizer & ag chemical dealer, industry tech rep, seed dealer, county agent, university specialist) and amuse the entire neighborhood.
Be sure to read the rest of Bob’s article here: http://www.agry.purdue.edu/ext/corn/news/articles.08/crappyrecipe-0422.html
