“C oatinuous com has proved as good or better than
rotation com on this land," says Harold Steele, who
grows 700 acres of com a year on 870 acres just west of
Dover, Illinois. Eighty percent of Steele’s crop is con
tinuous com on these same lands year after year. Yields
have been averaging above 100 bushels per acre.
The idea of com following com or a continuous com
cropping program has been growing for a number of
years among midwestem farmers. In this area it gen
erally means more total production from a farm and an
adequate supply of good feed for an extended livestock
program. Both actual practice and experimental work
have indicated that it is possible to get good com yields
when com is grown continuously on more or less level
areas where erosion isn’t a problem. Of course, a high
powered fertility program is necessary to maintain a bal
ance of nutrients for one big com crop after another.
One hundred and twenty-five bu. to the acre for the
1982
1983
1984
whole farm is a fairly respectable total scored by l>ave
Treinen, dairy and hog farmer near Lodi, Wisconsin.
Standing head and slioulders above all the rest of the
farm is a field of about 17 acres on which Dave has piled
up as much as 147 bushels to the acre. This is a field
that has been in com continuously for the past 13 years.
Treinen’s hog operation — between 400 ami 500 head
a year — needs a lot of com Add on the 75 head of Hob
steins and that boosts the corn needed also He has
around 155 tillable acres out of his 200-acre place. This
figures out to half his work ground in continuous com
Continuous com has been planted by Treinen lioth
drilling and by wheel track methods. He likes wheel
track planting but cutworm problems turned up in his
fields this past year. Rather than buy an attachment to
add insecticide by wheel track, he has gone liack to drill
ing in the field. Insecticide is put on by broadcasting
This past year two acres out of the seventeen previously
mentioned were taken out. This means that the remaining
15 acres popped up with about lot bushels to the acre
according to the fertilizer people, but Dave is a bit more
conservative; he’s calling it good even 140 bushels crop.
Many forces have prompted fanners to ask about corn
monoculture. These include. (1), the farmers’ desire for
greater intensification and specialization; (2), the farm
ers’ desire to get the quickest maximum profits from high
priced land; (3), the farmers’ desire to get more season
ality out of the work load on the com — Miami rotation
— com culture in the summer and a vacation to Miami,
Florida in winter. And (4), popularly priced commercial
fertilizers among others.
While research results and considerable farmer expe
rience with continuous corn have not been tested long
enough to show whether high corn yields can be main
tained, research has already shown that lil>eral amounts
of commercial nitrogen combined with minimum tillage
will maintain yields considerably higher than only a few
years ago. There is little doubt that many com farmers
can increase their productivity with good cropping prac
tices and commercial fertilizers without turning to con
A nil I l i M H 911 ^P r A fP I F^ ^ p|
YIELD PROOF TRIUMPH I
j&t 2891 town in 26 states and Canada
deaonstrnted the remarkable "on-the-fara"
yigld poser of DeXalb Corn, ebon they
averaged 123.38 bushels per acre* in the
1961 National Selected 5-Acre oeKalb Corn
Growing Contest, this was an all-time
reoord in this exclusive 23 year old corn
event, and again brings a feller meaning to
theoldi^adage "It Pays to Raise
II rtTfffl IT 111 61
Cotton of Danville, Ky. had
1
area alone averaged 187.4 bushels*
VCMATUTV
Many sail deserving high individual
corn yields have been recorded in the past.
Bat an average of 123.38 bushels per acre*
on 2891 different fans in 26 different
states and Canada, adds a new significance
to DaKalb's bred-in yield power. It aeans
DeKalb Hybrid Varieties have the bred-in
Mutability to Me good average yields
under a wide variation of oonditioM—bed
■nd nod weather—poor and lood soil—insect
attache—disease infestations—drouth, etc.
Such perfomaace spells over-all, long-tine
reliability.
ri
eties—each adapted to
particular circuastaaces. In the 1961
Contest aany different DeKalb varieties eere
used....18 different ones alone by the 26
State winners and Canadian cheap. There's
one or aore DeKalb varieties to fit TOUR
fan. Let thea work for you.
nr* YOUR CHOICE TO MARK
Do You want high corn yields? Do you
want corn that PITS year fan? Then consider
DeKalb. US corn developed through years of
maatched research...with yield power bred-in
for fans froa Canada to the Gulf. Meat
tine—plant ALL DeKalbI
OBCALR AGRICULTURAL AMR.. IRC.. OKAU, HA.
.M - ■.
State Winners in DeKalb 1961 National
Selected 5-Acre Corn Srowing Contest
*
STATE NAME YIELD
ALABAMA OnULaCnk HIM
CANADA DMVMSkUl 1IZJ1
COLORADO (DRY) 17J4
COLORADO (IRIL) 1MJI
DELAWARE 13E7I
ILLINOIS 1*7 J1
INDIANA 1M.IS
IOWA MUl
KANSAS 1MJ7
Kentucky atn
MARYLAND 1MJI
MICHIGAN ««
MINNESOTA HBJB
MISSOURI JmtjD HUB
State Winners in DeKalb 1961 National I
Selected 5-Acre Com Growing Contest j
• I
STATENAME_ YIELD
NEBRASKA (MV) M Mm IS11S j
NEBRASKA (IRIL) Pa»WlDatart VU2 ,
NEW JERSEY Kaa* Watrrtslu IBB |
NEW YORK TMaMn Him 1W.H
NORTH CAROLINA Jw HmW t Sai WaR 142JS
NORTH DAKOTA ... UJt j
OHM O Fra * * :
OKLAHOMA J. T. Vatidfc 1MJ7 !
PEMUYLVANIA Afeaa Fm 1*M
SOOTH DAKOTA (DRY) R*r Bra >** j
SOOTH DAKOTA (UHL) Gatfa MeCai 14UI j
TENNESSEE JiaaMtRaMK*| mil
TEXAS Maii Fajaa 1J4 J1
YIRGUNA Hmai 0. StawMa 17MS
WEST VIRGINIA Rra*l Cmaa 1SLM i
WISCONSIN 0*i MBa IBJ7 j
OTHER BRAND ....
—«—»-■
