One tradition is still alive in this internet-crazed world. Companies still send out printed catalogs. When the Beck’s 2024 Practical Farm Research booklet arrived, I couldn’t wait to dig in.

The booklet contains over 250 pages of practical farm test results from sites scattered across the Corn Belt. You can find it online. I am a paper-and-ink guy myself.

Here are five tests that stood out as I thumbed through the corn studies:

1. Old-technology surprise. Who would have thought one of the biggest payoffs in 2024 would come from an old technology — rotary hoeing! One pass netted an extra 31.9 bushels per acre.

The Beck’s PFR crew, headed up by Jason Gahimer, set up the study once a 2-inch rain after planting caused severe crusting. The field was hoed seven days after planting. Hoeing increased the stand by more than 1,400 plants per acre. The PFR crew believes the yield jump also resulted from more even emergence and less early stress.

2. Early planting confirmation. Planting corn “early” continues to pay off. Here are the results over 24 years at multiple locations:

There are differences by location. In Minnesota, seven-year data favors planting May 16-31, barely ahead of May 1-15 and April 16-30. Planting April 1-15 trails even planting June 1-15. But based on two years in Nebraska, planting April 16-30 wins hands down. One-year data in Kansas shows little difference between planting from April 1 to May 15, but a sharp drop for planting after May 15.

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3. Starter fertilizer common sense. Applying starter fertilizer with replanting doesn’t pay. That seems simple, yet many farmers asked the question. There was a slight bump in yield in two-year data at five locations, but a net loss of nearly $16 per acre for 2x2x2 UAN starter, and of nearly $15 per acre for high-grade liquid starter in-furrow. Net dollar losses were lowest in Iowa and central Illinois, especially for UAN, but highest in Nebraska, and for in-furrow in southern Illinois.

4. Seeking better fertilizer placement. Ultrahigh-pressure jet technology is primarily used by no-tillers in high-residue situations. One approach is running water through the pressure jets to open the soil for better fertilizer placement. The Beck’s PFR crew injected 30 units of UAN with ultrahigh-pressure jets and compared it to both dribbling 30 units of UAN on top, and applying 10 gallons of water through the jets plus dribbling 30 units of UAN.

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Averaging two sites on higher-clay soils, both jet treatments produced over 6 bushels per acre more corn vs. dribbling UAN. But in Indiana, the water jet method was nearly twice as effective, while in Ohio, it reversed. Conclusion? Injecting works, but more testing is needed.

5. Learning about short corn. Short corn is in its infancy, but Beck’s wants to know how to manage it. Should it be planted thicker? The PFR crew tested four populations (32,000 to 44,000 plants per acre) and two hybrid maturity ratings (105-day and 111-day) in Iowa, Indiana and central Illinois. Averaged across sites, 40,000 produced the highest net income, followed by 44,000 with both hybrids.