30s vs 20s corn
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Topic: 30s vs 20s corn
Posted By: acd21man
Subject: 30s vs 20s corn
Date Posted: 29 Oct 2016 at 4:51pm
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we are one 30 inch corn and we do good we have had 200-280 some 300 bushels acer but i wana try 20 inch rows we have a 7200 max emerge 2 6 row with liquid thinking about getting or making this planter a 8 row and making it into 20 inch rows just wondering who is on 20s on here and how well you like them ------------- 2 wd 45,2 D-17 diesel/gas 3 pt, 220,d21, 4020,2 4430s used daily http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCudh8Xz9_rZHhUC3YNozupw |
Replies:
Posted By: shameless (ne)
Date Posted: 29 Oct 2016 at 7:47pm
| always wanted to try 20's, but a new corn head would have killed my profits! lol |
Posted By: Gerald J.
Date Posted: 29 Oct 2016 at 8:15pm
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Those who like 20 inch rows the best are farmers raising crops like beets on 20 inch rows. There are regular debates on New Ag Talk Crop http://talk.newagtalk.com/forums/forum-view.asp?fid=3" rel="nofollow - http://talk.newagtalk.com/forums/forum-view.asp?fid=3 about this topic. Most often for beans, but sometimes for corn. I think there is no consensus on these variations in row width. Some report better crops with narrow, some never saw an improvement with narrow and some especially in beans never saw a consistent improvement. Some years narrow better some years worse. In the 70s there was an Iowa Extension bulletin that claimed 30" rows for corn were significantly superior to 36 or 38" rows. One standard argument for narrower rows is quicker canopy and so weeds get shaded out better and sooner. Bushy beans have made 30" row hard to walk compared to beans that weren't bushy. Planting equipment is easier to come up with than harvesting. I got worried the first year I planted corn with a grain drill in 35" rows and when I drove by my custom combiner's house I saw only a 30" head sitting out. But he still had the 36" head. I have no experience with rows narrower than 30". Now my tenant does those with strip till and we get a good crop without the washing from heavy rains that accompanies full tillage and he gets to plant earlier than I did with notill. It is possible to harvest corn with a grain head, but the head doesn't separate the ears from the stalks so a lot more material goes through the combine adding wear to its interior. One other possibility is split rows, two rows about 7" apart with 30" centers. Narrow rows and split rows allow for higher populations without crowding the corn in the rows so in theory that could add to the yield. In any case its affected by the weather and the corn breeding. By careful breeding selection in 2007 I raised 173.2 bushel (dried) corn with only 111 pounds of N, which is rarely accomplished. The population was 34K with a Crow's number that claimed to be efficient on its use of nutrition. It was. I had high organic matter too that contributed some nitrogen. Gerald J. |
Posted By: HD6GTOM
Date Posted: 29 Oct 2016 at 8:52pm
| D21 man -- we have several people do this in the past. Seemed to work for them. Back in the 1970's the guy who set several national corn growing records used 20 inch rows. They have very good fertility programs. |
Posted By: HD6GTOM
Date Posted: 29 Oct 2016 at 8:54pm
| D21 man -- we have several people do this in the past. Seemed to work for them. Back in the 1970's the guy who set several national corn growing records used 20 inch rows. The guys doing it have very good fertility programs. If I were still doing row crop I would be doing it. |
Posted By: jiminnd
Date Posted: 29 Oct 2016 at 10:11pm
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Most around here that do 20 or 22 inch did it so they canuse the same planter for beans or beets, just nice to only have one planter to pay for and keep up, not hard to find 20 inch corn heads any more. ------------- 1945 C, 1949 WF and WD, 1981 185, 1982 8030, unknown D14(nonrunner) |
Posted By: Dakota Dave
Date Posted: 29 Oct 2016 at 11:28pm
| We put every thing in 20" rows but so does every one else. You can use all the same equipment without changing tread widths. Planter,cultivator,sprayer and the bean cutter and rod weader are all set up for it. We combine corn with a all crop head that's 20" rows.rund the head just below the cobs leaves a lot of stalk that doesn't have to go through the combine. All the beet farmers have been at 20" for a long time. So lots of tractors and equipment come up for sale setup for 20" rows and dual or tripled 14.9 x46" tires. |
Posted By: wayneIA
Date Posted: 30 Oct 2016 at 1:39am
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I run 20" rows, and built my own Hugger head and White planter. My neighbor went to 20's a year before me and put a test plot in on one of my fields and beat my 30" rows that year by 20 bushel. I've heard reports that the farther North you go the better sub 30" rows are in terms of yield. Part of the reason I went with 20's was that I generally farm lighter ground that tends to dry out faster and wanted to conserve soil moisture. It also helps with weed control since like mentioned above the crop will canopy about 2 weeks sooner around here in Northeast Iowa. Generally I don't plant corn more than 2000 seeds heavier on light ground and maybe 1000 seeds per acre heavier on good black ground than what I planted in 30" rows. One thing to keep in mind is that with corn you need to be careful on the hybrid that you select. Some numbers like or don't mind the crowding and will produce excellent yields, other numbers like their "elbow" room and will drop in yield when planted in sub 30" rows. When selecting a hybrid, if the seed company doesn't know how well it performs on sub 30" rows, I'll look at how well the hybrid likes high population. If the hybrid likes to be crowded in higher populations, then I'll tend to figure it will tolerate the lower row to row clearance in 20" rows and plant it according to the recommended 30" population. On the equipment, a standard 6 row 30" Gleaner Hugger head has enough frame to add 3 row units to it and have a 9 row 20" head, but if you are running a Deere 6 row 30" there is too much frame for a 8 row 20" and not enough for 9 rows. If a Deere head is used, the best way is to use the 6 row frame and narrow it for 8 row 20" to avoid knocking the next row of corn over. With the 8 row though it gets tight if you are running a 9400 series Deere combine (experience from the neighbor's adventure when he started on the 20's). I don't have any experience with an IH head for if there is enough room to get them down to 20's. You can get aftermarket row dividers for building your own head from GVL poly in Minnesota, or Poly Tin in Iowa for both Hugger and Deere heads. I prefer the Poly Tin row dividers on 20" rows since the hood between the rows is lower and doesn't seem to bounce ears as much. My neighbor on the first head he had (was bought used as an 8 row 20" with GVL poly), the head seemed to bounce a lot of ears out on the ground. He doesn't seem to have that on his current head that has Deere poly on it now. I don't know if your planter is a 3 point or not, but on a pull type you will either need to put the lift wheels on the very end of the toolbar or spin them around and mount them on the front of the toolbar to have clearance between the rows. If you mount the wheels ahead of the toolbar, it will be tail heavy and have negative tongue weight. There is an aftermarket company the neighbor bought his current lift wheels from and they are made on a narrow frame with a narrow tire that will fit between the rows, but you will need to purchase an aftermarket narrow (2") gauge wheel for the row units beside the lift wheels to clear the narrow lift wheels. If you are interested in the narrow frame lift wheels, I can get the company name from the neighbor. To drive the row units, if you already have a hydraulic drive or electrically driven seed meters, you are OK, but if still using ground drive you will have to mount the transmission on one end or the other of the toolbar since there won't be enough room between the row units to leave it mounted in the middle (the narrow lift wheels the neighbor uses don't have a provision on them for ground drive that I know of). If you are running the factory lift wheels ahead of the frame, then you could mount the transmission ahead too and run the drive chain back to the hex shaft behind the main frame. Just a picture of the 10 row 20" head I use built from a 6 row 38" Hugger frame.  |