Organic Corn Performance Trial

Nov 09, 2016

By Brad Heins

Organic farmers in Minnesota have very little data to use to select corn varieties. The West Central Research and Outreach Center (WCROC) in Morris, MN, currently has 300 acres of organic cropland and we are also affected by the same lack of data. In 2016, Blue River Hybrids and Albert Lea Seed (Viking brand) were contacted to participate in an organic corn performance trial with locations at Morris and at the Southwest Research and Outreach Center (SWROC) in Lamberton, MN. Both companies sent five varieties of 85 to 97 day corn for evaluation. This trial was conducted at two sites at both locations. One test was under organic practices and one was conventional production. The Morris conventional trial was in soybeans in 2015 and received 150-60-0-15 of fertilizer in the fall 2015. The organic trial was planted where alfalfa was grown for three years and solid dairy manure was applied in the fall of 2015. Weed control was excellent at the Morris organic site and no differences in population were noted between plots. Weed control methods for the organic test at Morris was one pass of a flex tine harrow at three inch corn followed by one pass of row cultivation. No lodging or ear dropping were noted at either site in Morris or Lamberton.

Plots were four rows wide and 30 inch spacing with a seeding rate was 35,000 seeds per acre at all locations. Both Morris trials were planted May 20, 2016. The organic trial was harvested October 7, 2016 and the conventional trail was harvested October 12.

The Lamberton trial was planted on May 26 and harvested on October 19, 2016.

Each trial was a randomized complete block test with three replications. Data was analyzed by using Statistx version 10 software.

Morris Organic Trial

The ANOVA P value for yield was .0019 and a LSD of .1 is presented.

The surrounding field was 26 acres and planted to Blue River 35M70 and yielded 210 bu/acre.

Morris Conventional Trial

The ANOVA P value for yield was .033 and a LSD of .1 is presented.*

* Combine harvesting error occurred on two adjacent plots of the same entry. Means were averaged of the two plots and used in the analysis. Rankings were not affected but the LSD may be higher than reported. Data yield data analyzed using Friedman Two-Way Nonparametric AOV resulted in a P value of .087 on unmodified data.

Lamberton Organic Trial

The ANOVA P value for yield was .0049 and an LSD of .1 is presented.

Lamberton Conventional Trial

The ANOVA P value for yield was .0013 and a LSD of .1 is presented.*

Source: umn.edu

Video: Seeing the Whole Season: How Continuous Crop Modeling Is Changing Breeding

Plant breeding has long been shaped by snapshots. A walk through a plot. A single set of notes. A yield check at the end of the season. But crops do not grow in moments. They change every day.

In this conversation, Gary Nijak of AerialPLOT explains how continuous crop modeling is changing the way breeders see, measure, and select plants by capturing growth, stress, and recovery across the entire season, not just at isolated points in time.

Nijak breaks down why point-in-time observations can miss critical performance signals, how repeated, season-long data collection removes the human bottleneck in breeding, and what becomes possible when every plot is treated as a living data set. He also explores how continuous modeling allows breeding programs to move beyond vague descriptors and toward measurable, repeatable insights that connect directly to on-farm outcomes.

This conversation explores:

• What continuous crop modeling is and how it works

• Why traditional field observations fall short over a full growing season

• How scale and repeated measurement change breeding decisions

• What “digital twins” of plots mean for selection and performance

• Why data, not hardware, is driving the next shift in breeding innovation As data-driven breeding moves from research into real-world programs, this discussion offers a clear look at how seeing the whole season is reshaping value for breeders, seed companies, and farmers, and why this may be only the beginning.