Investigating wide row corn on yield, soil and water

Mark Enninga

While the farming practices of the last few decades have led to significantly higher corn yields, challenges still exist for farmers, which include tighter profit margins and extreme weather patterns which result in soil erosion, water quality challenges and high peak flow rates in waterways. Addressing these challenges will require innovation and collaboration between farmers and academics to develop practices that are adaptable for production agriculture. Therefore, we are proposing to investigate the Wide Row Corn (WRC) concept and its effects on yield, soil and water quality. We hypothesize that WRC (44″ row width} will not cause a yield penalty compared to narrow row corn (22″ row width). In both groups, we will utilize interseeding of a multispecies cover crop around the V4 corn growth stage, which will allow us to make additional observations regarding cover crop growth pre- and post-corn harvest, weed control and soil and water quality benefits.
Additionally, we will determine if corn farmers utilizing WRC can achieve higher profits. Added revenue could be derived from carbon sequestration services, grazing, and/or higher yields. With regards to expenses, input costs could be decreased with lower fertilizer usage, increased plant protection, and equipment costs. Improvements to water quality may be generated with better water infiltration, less water runoff, and more efficient use of current drainage systems, which results in cleaner and slower water flow rates entering our waterways. To measure these factors, infield observations will be recorded throughout the season. Yield and cost of production analyses will be completed to establish proof of concept for Year 1. To build on the knowledge and best practices gained during Year 1, it is our vision to take the concept further in Years 2 and 3 in order to gather more data, specifically in the area utilizing strip-till, fertilizer banding, no-till, pursuing revenue from cover crop biomass and reduction of inputs due to nitrogen (N) contributions from cover crops. Upon completion of this study, we aim to provide recommendations and strategies for the implementation of WRC, including the outlining of the benefits and limitations for the innovative WRC strategy that could be implemented by Midwest corn producers and academics.