Advancing Intensive Management of Continuous Corn on Irrigated Sands
Study author(s): Jeff Coulter, University of Minnesota, Department of Soil, Water, and Climate
Years of study: 2014
Location(s): Becker, MN
Important: for the complete report, including all tables and figures, please download using the link(s) to the right.
Summary
Removing 40% of corn residue prior to tillage in the previous fall, coupled with a longer-season hybrid (103 vs. 97 day) and a greater planting rate (41,000 vs. 36,000 seeds/acre) increased corn yield by 21 bushels/acre and enhanced the efficiency of applied N fertilizer (1.17 vs. 1.32 pounds N/bushel).
Advanced fertilizer management including surface-dribbled N near the row at planting and three in-season applications of N rather than two increased corn yield by an average of 29 bushels/acre. Coupling advanced fertilizer management with advanced crop management enhanced the efficiency of applied N fertilizer to 1.02 pounds N/bushel.
The results from the first year of this study demonstrate that irrigated continuous corn yields can be increased with changes in residue management, hybrid selection, and planting rate. These results also show that advanced fertilizer management based on 4R principles can increase corn yield and N fertilizer efficiency on irrigated sands in both standard and high-yield systems.