Three key learnings of 2024
By Luke Schulte, Beck’s Ohio Field Agronomist
What did we learn in a year of weather extremes: heat, flash droughts, extended drought, localized flooding, hurricane-force winds? In years like this, the weather often takes the blame for both expected results and those surprises. However, it’s growing seasons like 2024 that I usually find to be the most revealing.
- Population is a stress
Human nature and our industry have trained us to believe the key to higher corn yields is all about ear count. If we produce more ears, albeit smaller, our yield will still be higher than if we had fewer, more impressive-looking ears.
While for some hybrids, increasing plant population will result in higher yields, many hybrids today have substantial ear flex. However, ear flex today differs from what we spoke of in the early 2000s. Genetic ear flex today is more about kernel depth flex or increased girth if given space. … Continue reading