Corn Hybrids
Lots of new ones. With the expected increase in corn acreage, you may be asked to try a substitute hybrid as companies try to fill all your seed needs. Often it is better to switch to the best hybrid from another company rather than grow an unproven hybrid. Last year, some hybrids yielded well but did not stand. Growers are considering not planting these because of lodging. Lodging should not be as big a concern in 2002. Normally plants lay down lignin late in the season. In 2001, plants had run out of water when they should have been laying down lignin. This resulted in more stalk breakage.

Second-year corn. We will have more acres this year of corn after corn. If you are on clay or heavier clay loam soil, you must use a rootworm insecticide. Watch for interactions between certain insecticides and certain herbicides. Make sure hybrids on second-year corn have a good root system. Do not plant the same hybrid on the same field 2 years in a row. Whatever diseases the hybrid is susceptible to will be worse the second year. The most common diseases are root rots, anthracnose and stalk rots.

Herbicides
The list is short. In Publication 75, the new registrations are ones that received registration just before planting last spring. They include Boundary, which has the same actives as Dual and Lexone/Sencor. Broadstrike Dual Magnum replaces Broadstrike Dual. Koril and Mextrol are two new products. They contain the same actives that are in Pardner and Buctril M respectively. LibertyPrime has the same actives as Liberty and Primextra. The herbicide marketers are tending to hold back new registrations from the marketplace until just before the new season. Expect to see some new registrations for 2002 introduced just before the planting season.

Reintroduced into this year’s Publication 75 are the weed rating tables with the numerous tank mix combinations.

New additions include Tables 13 and 14, which have registered post-emergent tank mixes for corn.

Changes in Pub 75 - Guide To Weed Control 2002
New herbicides are all products that were introduced this past spring (same actives as Dual and Sencor/Lexone), Broadstrike Dual Magnum (replacing Broadstrike Dual), Evict Solupak 75DF (same active as Sencor/Lexone), FirstRate (new active this spring), Koril (same active as Pardner), LibertyPrime (same actives as Primextra and Liberty), Mextrol (same actives as Buctril M), Summit (new active this spring).

Secondary tillage of soil with poor tilth will be new again to growers. Generally, the soil structure is poor going into winter 2001/2002. The wet year in 2000, followed by no frost action last winter and a wet fall in 2001, adds up to poor soil structure.

I have seen some new pieces of secondary tillage equipment, generally high clearance cultivators that condition the soil by working it shallowly and uniformly across the width and the depth of the cultivator. The front feet work the soil to the same depth as the back feet. There are still some pretty poor cultivators being used for secondary tillage. They may have been acceptable when we worked the field 3 or 4 times and were not using them to incorporate herbicides. But now that we are making fewer trips and working in herbicides, they are not satisfactory. They are in equipment yards and showing up at auction sales. I am tempted to drive around the country and spray paint a big red “X” on some of these pieces to warn growers they are not up to the job of good secondary tillage. We have put so much emphasis on no-till equipment and shallow ploughing that I think we have lost some of the art of secondary tillage. I look forward to better secondary tillage next spring.

Weeds
We found some new ones last year. Probably the biggest concern is the group 2 resistant ragweed and nightshades. Generally we do not use group 2 herbicides to control these weeds in corn. On the other hand, we do not want any of these new weeds to go to seed in corn. If you know where they are, shoot for 100% control to keep them from spreading.

Finally, I expect we will see some new weather in 2002. After one of the wettest and one of the driest seasons in a long time, a return to less extremes will be new.

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