An On-Farm Comparison of Fertility Treatments on One Sweet Corn Variety Planted - Harvested at Two Different Times During the Season

View the project final report

Commodities

• Vegetables: sweet corn

Practices

• Crop Production: foliar feeding, application rate management, tissue analysis
• Education and Training: demonstration, extension, farmer to farmer, on-farm/ranch research
• Farm Business Management: budgets/cost and returns
• Production Systems: general crop production

An equipment malfunction meant that one year this farmer did not use starter fertilizer on his corn. He saw no drop in quality, and this project will evaluate whether starter fertilizer is needed, whether it can be replace by a foliar feed, and whether using sidedress or incorporating pre-planting nutrients might also replace starter or foliar feeding. He will conduct soil tests, foliar tissue tests, and a Brix test for sugar content; corn from his test strips will be counted and weighed, yield per acre will be calculated, and tillage, weed, and insect pressures will be noted. The overall goal is to see if farmers can save on inputs. The results will be disseminated through a conference poster, a field day, and through a grower newsletter.