This is a comment I have heard more than a few times. During the growing season there are fields that were variable in height that have evened themselves out while coming into tassel timing, this is only a portion of the story.
When hybrids emerge and start growing and they have more than 2 leaves difference between each other they are start competing instead of growing together. This is might seem like a small thing but is it very important to the overall yield potential in a field. If a plant is putting its energy into growing leaves to compete it is not thinking about putting energy and resources into ear development. Since a plant determines what size of ear it will put on around the 6-leaf stage of development it is important to have a healthy and uniform crop at that time. There are factors like weather that are out of our control that create challenges for us. There are factors that we can control going into the spring like planter operation, depth control setup, hybrid selection and tillage practices.
What does all this have to do with the corn crop that I have in the field to harvest. Over the next month or it so it is good time to start walking field looking at plant to plant variability and more importantly ear to ear variability. In the picture you will see the two are related, just because the plants are the same height doesn’t mean that there is the same yield potential in the ear.
Focus on some good areas and focus on some tougher areas on the farm as well, there is many things that can be learned just by walking through the field. One thing I always take note of is how the soil feels as I am walking over it; do I sink in or is it firm, this leads to me looking into field compaction issues. If field compaction isn’t the concern investigate side wall compaction from planting in areas where the stalks are smaller in diameter. Keep going down the list of possibilities for the variability until you find something that you can learn from and correct.
When in the field it is also a great time to look at other issues that may affect harvest efficiencies. Is there any root lodging, leaf diseases that may lead to cannibalization of lower stalk nutrients and support stalk rots.
Are there any nutrient deficiencies such as Nitrogen or potassium? What growth stage is the field in and how variable is it across the field? It may take a couple trips thru the field; one before crop senescence and one after to check on stalk integrity to determine which fields should be harvested first.it is not always the first planted.
As always, contact your local Wanstead or AGRIS branch for any question or help assessing your corn crop prior to harvest.