The power of plots

[JULY 31, 2000]  One can see more than green on a drive around Logan County this time of year. Try blue and red and gold. These and many other colors identify the various seed corn and chemical plots nearing completion.

Area farmers see more than a colorful display of signs when they review plots. They see the tests as a powerful source of information that will help them make wise business decisions for the 2001 crop.

 


[Logan County farmers listen to a Monsanto agronomist discuss a herbicide treatment.]

 

Plots are labor-intensive selling efforts on behalf of the companies who sponsor them.

One of the best seed plots in Logan County belongs to Pioneer seed dealer Bill Rademaker. His neat-as-a-pin corn and soybean display is adjacent to Interstate 155 between Hartsburg and Emden. In lieu of a rugged road ditch, Rademaker and his helpers maintain a well-groomed yard that extends from the edge of Route 121 to the plot. And, all the signs stand erect in a perfectly straight row.

 


[Each sign tells a story about the genetic makeup of the hybrid.  On Pioneer signs, the larger the first number, the fewer days it takes for the corn to mature.]

 

Throughout the summer, Rademaker will give a personalized plot tour to farmers who stop to visit. But a major plot tour on Aug. 21 will bring together Pioneer agronomists and a larger group of farmers to discuss the pros and cons of each variety. Farmers use these events to determine which new varieties have the most yield potential when grown on their farm.

 

 

Bill Rademaker has 25 years of experience in planning and managing a plot. Each year, he chooses several corn hybrids within each maturity range to profile. Some have the popular new bt gene, others do not. All of the numbers are compared to an old standby hybrid that has historically performed well in this area.

 

 

 

Planting the plot is a meticulous process. Rademaker and his helpers have created a shortcut. Rather than dumping individual seed boxes after the single pass down the plot, they have rigged up a generator and shop vac for quick seed cleanups at the end of each row.

 

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As the crop matures, signs identifying the particular hybrid are posted in front of the plot. The numbers and letters on the signs are not randomly picked out of a hat. They represent the number of days it takes a particular hybrid to reach maturity or a specific gene trait that was added to the hybrid.

Farmers use these numbers to select the right corn or soybeans, just like the fashion-conscious person relies on designer labels to build their wardrobe.

Rademaker will harvest this plot one variety at a time and dump it into a special wagon that will help to determine the actual yield of the very small area. This information is not as valuable as taking the yield on an entire field of one variety, but it does serve to compare the many different varieties in one plot.

 

 

Rural Atlanta farmer Dean Sasse doesn’t give much credence to corn and soybean variety plot results because they aren’t replicated. Sasse conducts a lot of on-farm research to make decisions for his farm. This year, he is evaluating the need for an at-plant corn soil insecticide to control the western corn rootworm, and the yield benefits of using starter fertilizer.

Sasse was also one of 35 farmers from the Land of Lincoln Soil Savers group that visited Monsanto’s research farm in Monmonth on July 27. "Those plots were very impressive because they were replicated," commented Sasse. Monsanto displays more than 300 herbicide treatments at the site. In between each treatment was a check strip to measure the actual weed pressure where no herbicide was applied.

Yet another excellent source of information are trials conducted by the University of Illinois and county extension groups. These results are always published and can provide another data check for those varieties that performed well in company sponsored plots like Rademaker’s.

There are many seed, chemical and fertilizer products out on the market for farmers to evaluate. If these products are not displayed in a number of farmer and university trials, it’s likely that they will not grow in market share as a company expects.

 


[Bill Rademaker prepares the ears of corn for display so that farmers can examine how well the ear has developed.]

 

One thing is for sure, as long as farming is driven by large corporations, there will continue to be lots of demonstration plots with colorful signs to attract our attention as we cruise down rural roadways.

 

[Marty Ahrends]