Late corn is a crop that has particularities that make it different from early corn and also from other crops. As a business you have sensitive issues that define your success, which must be known and managed.
There is commercial variables that are key in this business, such as price capture (for being harvested in a stage in which it is normal that they go down); logistics (for being of high volume and for being harvested normally with humidity); the financial (as it is the crop that takes the longest to generate income).
In turn, as in all crops, there are productive variables that define the yield and, therefore, directly, the business income. The correct setting is the starting point from which the potential of the crop is defined and is necessary to define the productive strategies.
The technologies to be used (genetics, density, fertilization, management of pests, weeds and diseases) will be those that allow to better capture the offered yield. Understanding the importance of all the variables, at Okandu we focus on the main decisions to be made when growing corn to achieve the best expression of yield.
Choice of hybrid: the hybrid for late corn must have potential and stability of yield, speed of drying, cane strength, and health (mainly to blight).
Density: As in early corn, the correct density adjustment is essential to be able to capture the environmental offer. For each environment and depending on the hybrid, there is an optimal density from which reducing stand depresses performance. It is key to know the behavior of each material in order to optimize the performance of each environment.
Fertilization: lhe nutrients that intervene in the nutrition of the crop are nitrogen (N), phosphorus, sulfur and zinc, being N the key nutrient that allows obtaining sensible improvements in yield. Experiences carried out in the southeast of Córdoba in recent years they indicate that, like what happens in traditional corn, late corn has a high response to the nitrogen offered, being able to achieve, in many cases, the same yield that is obtained in corn of early sowing in similar environments.
Pests: tell with transgenic events with partial protection on pests has probably been an important factor to achieve stability of yields recognized in cultivation. Despite this, a decrease in the protection of certain events has been observed, which is why it is important to monitor crops exposed to pressure from pests that affect the bud and the tips of the spikes.
Weeds: The dynamics of weeds demands in a special way a crop that is sown at the end of spring, for which the strategy must be planned since there are several moments of intervention.
Diseases: It is essential to have genetic materials with a good health profile and to add the correct management with regard to chemical control. There is much evidence of a response to timely fungicide intervention supported by weekly disease monitoring.
Service crops: Another high impact practice is the use of these crops in winter as the forerunner of the crop. Late corn is the one that best adapts to this technique because it has a long fallow period. With this practice, weed pressure is lowered, which reduces the use of herbicides in the year in which the corn is made and in the winter fallow of the following year. In addition, when legume species are used, an extra supply of nitrogen is achieved, which translates into a saving of nitro fertilizers.
The author is part of the Okandu team
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