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Showing posts from January, 2015

Corn Myths

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Dr. Peter Thomison, OSU Extension Corn Specialist gave an interesting presentation on several popular corn production practices. Some are myths, some are not. Take the quiz and see how you fare. Does fall applied nitrogen (N) breakdown corn stalks faster? Actually, due to a lack of heat and moisture, fall applied N may not be that helpful. Tillage does not really help either until next spring when the temperatures warm up and the microbes start working. Most corn varieties are planted at a higher plant population now to increase yields and they have more lignin in them to resist lodging. One solution is to plant earlier maturing corn varieties because they are harvested earlier and the soil should be warmer when they are harvested. Most corn stalks are broken down by fungus which grown better under warm moist soil conditions. Bt (GMO) corn residues breakdown slower than conventional non GMO corn? Universities studies for several years have found no difference because they break down