Jun 15, 2010
Corn-on-corn Struggling Under Saturated Conditions
Author: Michael Cordonnier/Soybean & Corn Advisor, Inc.
In the saturated regions of the central Corn Belt, it appears that corn-on-corn is not faring as well as corn-on-soybeans. This was evident once again last week when I traveled through western Indiana. You see excellent corn fields right aside of corn fields that look poor. The excellent fields are thigh high, deep green, very uniform in height, and obviously in excellent condition. The corn-on-corn fields are shorter, uneven in height, pale green in color, and obviously struggling.
The reason or reasons for this difference has not been clearly established, but a suspected culprit is the corn stubble left over from last year that is tying up the nitrogen in the soil. If the soils would dry out, these fields will improve, but they will probably never end up being as good as the corn-on-soybeans fields. If the soils stay saturated, then they will definitely never be as good as the corn-on-soybeans fields.