If you haven’t heard Dr. Fred Below, Professor of Plant Physiology, University of Illinois, speak then you’re missing something. He was part of a panel discussion on Maximizing Yield in Continuous Corn that filled the room. The Learning Center session was sponsored by Syngenta.
The first thing Dr. Below wanted growers to know is that they’ll take an approximate 10% yield penalty by doing corn on corn. He’s done a lot of work on how you go about mitigating that penalty. To do so he says you should utilize a high yielding hybrid and apply sufficient nitrogen. Of course it helps to have a little cooperation from the weather too since that’s the single biggest impact factor on yield. Another thing he suggests is planting more seed per acre since corn planted after corn often emerges poorly. For more information he recommends that growers contact their local extension offices where they’ll find a lot of information on this subject.
Listen to my interview with Dr. Below here: cc-08-below.mp3
You didn’t think I was done posting from Commodity Classic did you? Well I’m not. There’s still more to come.
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BASF congratulated the country’s leading corn growers and their families for their leadership in embracing innovation at the National Corn Growers Association’s National Corn Yield Contest banquet at the 2008 Commodity Classic. Markus Heldt, head of the BASF North American crop protection division, joined NCGA president Ron Litterer to honor the winners.
“How can it be possible for some growers to double the U.S. corn yield average?” he asked rhetorically, pointing to the national yield champions as examples of success. “At BASF, we believe that the gap is information and innovation, and we’re taking action to fill both those gaps by supporting education through scholarship programs and by building on our 143-year history of R&D investment, now totaling $450 million per year in crop protection.” 
I didn’t get to spend any time with Whitney Wallace at Commodity Classic but I got to follow her via her Monsanto Student Blogger blog – 
I think I’m the last one in the media room now. In fact, it closes in 20 minutes and they’re already tearing it down around me. Here’s Ned Arthur, 
Ed Hegland is a farmer from Minnesota and currently serving as Chairman of the 
Registration is now officially closed here at Commodity Classic and the final numbers have been posted.
For the last couple days we’ve been watching the 
It took 3 or 4 days but we’re pretty sure that Evan Slack, 
Each year at the Commodity Classic general session we get to hear from the Presidents of the participating associations. Here they are on stage involved in an interactive discussion with moderator John Phipps. Pictured left to right are John Hoffman, ASA, Ron Litterer, NCGA and John Thaemert, NAWG.