Fred Below, the king of high yield corn research, has a way of getting your attention.

"Do you know what the world record for corn is?" he asked at the start of West Central Distribution's recent Leaders of In-Furrow & Foliar Technologies (LIFT²) summit held in Fargo, N.D. West Central manufactures and markets several premium fertilizers and biologicals.

Below, a University of Illinois plant physiologist, has researched what it takes to increase corn yields. He developed the "Seven Wonders of the Corn Yield World" and "Six Secrets of Soybean Success" educational programs and has presented them throughout the U.S.

"It's 542 bushels per acre," Below continued. "Do you know what the average U.S. corn yield is? It's 177 bushels per acre. That's a 365-bushel difference. That's the yield gap, which I call the opportunity to increase corn yield with better crop management."

The key to closing the gap between your yield and the record depends on being able to successfully increase plant populations, Below said.

The current world record corn yield was produced with a population of 55,300 plants per acre, he noted.

But just planting more seeds per acre isn't the solution.

You have to give the corn plants as much room to grow as possible. In 30-inch rows, plants seeded at more than 38,000 plants per acre will be too close together for Below's liking. Corn plants need about 5 ½ inches between them to maximize yields, he said.

You'll need to grow corn in 22-, 20- or 15-inch wide rows to push yields to the next level, he said.

You'll have feed for the extra plants, too. At higher populations, corn plants will have smaller roots. They'll draw nutrients from a smaller area.

Consequently, placement and amount of fertilizer will be key.

In Below's University of Illinois trials, banding fertilizer directly beneath the seed always gets corn plants off to a better start.

"Each and every time you can see the difference right to be the row," he said.

The amount of fertilizer will be key, too. Below's research indicates that you need to have everything corn needs to reach its yield goal available in the soil or applied before planting. Corn plants detect fertilizer levels and set the "yield trajectory "early," he said.

You can add more fertilizer later in the season if conditions warrant, but you can't start out short. Corn will never catch up to its yield potential then, he said.

Different hybrids
You'll likely have to grow different hybrids if you switch to narrow rows and increase plant populations. Some hybrids do better in narrow rows and high plant populations than others, Below said.

Right now, you have to figure out which hybrids are best for narrow rows and higher plant populations yourself. Seed companies aren't screening or breeding lines in narrow rows and at higher plant population, but they will be in the near future, he predicted.

Plants designed for narrow rows and higher plant populations will be shorter, and the leaves will be more upright than today's hybrids, he said.

Plant health is key to increasing yields, too. Stalks will have to be stronger, even though at high plant populations they will be smaller in diameter. Leaves will have to be kept healthy. Yield contest winners are spraying fungicide twice, he noted.

"Overall, my research shows that single production factors cannot guarantee high yields, but rather it is the positive interaction among multiple production factors that gives farmers the greatest opportunity to close the corn yield gap," he said.