January 23, 2020
TRIAL OBJECTIVE
The objective of this study was to determine the impact of corn product and fungicide on corn yield when utilizing Climate FieldView™ digital technology.
The study was conducted on a local farmer’s irrigated pivot near Hershey, NE. This farmer had little to no experience with using Climate FieldView™ or a fungicide application on corn at the VT growth stage.
RESEARCH SITE DETAILS
| Location | Hershey, NE | Planting Date | 5/10/19 |
| Soil Type | Sandy loam, Hord silt loam | Harvest Date | 11/6/19 |
| Previous Crop | Corn | Potential Yield (bu/acre) | 280 |
| Tillage Type | Strip tillage | Seeding Rate (seeds/acre) | 32K |
The trial was conducted on an irrigated pivot that was split in half with the same five corn products (a 105, 106, 108, 110, and 114 RM product) planted on each half.
On half of the pivot, 11 fl oz/acre of Delaro® 325 SC fungicide was applied at VT growth stage (July 31) while the other half did not receive a fungicide application. Disease pressure was low with no diseases above an economic threshold level.
Herbicide applications and fertility were constant throughout the field.
Row spacing was 30 inches.
Fieldview™ was utilized throughout the growing season to monitor crop health (Figure 1 and 2).
UNDERSTANDING THE RESULTS
Each of the five corn products responded positively to the fungicide application with all products yielding between 230 to 250 bu/acre (Table 1).
At harvest, grain moisture was 17.8% in the 114 RM product while grain moisture in the 105 RM product was 14.9% (Table 1).
No change in grain moisture was seen with the fungicide application (Table 1).
The plots with the fungicide application not only had increased yield, but the farmer visually saw a substantial improvement with stalk standability and less ear drop with the Delaro® 325 SC fungicide application. The improved corn growth with a fungicide can be seen in the FieldView imagery taken on August 29 (Figure 2).
As a first-time user of FieldView, the farmer expressed a positive experience with being able to track corn product health over the growing season and measuring the impact of fungicide and corn product at harvest. The grower has reviewed his Climate FieldView subscription for the 2020 season.
KEY LEARNINGS
The plots with the fungicide application had higher yields for all corn products even in a low disease pressure environment.
FieldView™ allowed for an easier tracking of field health over the growing season and comparison of different corn management inputs at harvest.