Seed companies are already touting new corn hybrids for 2016. But which are the best ones for the Northeast and your farm? To help you narrow down bewildering numbers, American Agriculturist asked companies marketing hybrids in the Northeast to briefly describe their top five new numbers.

With so many entries for so big a market region, that's a tall challenge. Companies were limited to only their top five entries. Some listings identify "brand blends" referring to refuge in the bag hybrids that aren't always the same genetics and will vary from 5% to 10% depending on the trait. 

16-ROWER? Today's hybrids have traits that are a quantum leap ahead of those just five years ago.

Following are the hybrids and strong points, as submitted by those responding. For specific details, grill your seed reps or visit the company's website.

Axis
• 38A58RIB GENSS: This 88-day hybrid has excellent NCLB tolerance.  Excellent yield and test weight make this a good choice for early or late planting. This medium-tall hybrid also has strong silage appeal.

• 42P55RIB GENSS: The 92-day SmartStax has outstanding yield, good NCLB tolerance and excellent stalk strength.  A medium- tall plant, it performed well in silage trials.

• 45B05: This conventional 95-day is a very high test-weight hybrid with the bulk density poultry growers require, plus impressive stalks and roots for big yields across all populations. It's available treated or untreated.

• 48A53RIB GENSS: Strong agronomics with yield! At 98 days, this hybrid is adapted to most Northeast soils. With excellent NCLB tolerance, it brings excellent stalks, roots and test weight to this maturity.

• 51T53RIB GENSS: This 101-day corn has very good grain quality and test weights with fast drydown. A good disease package plus flex ears produce exceptional yields on high-performance fields in New York. 

Channel
• 197-68STXRIB Blend: This versatile 97 RM, dual-purpose hybrid carries Genuity SmartStax RIB Complete traits exhibiting great overall plant health for corn-on-corn rotations.  Strong stalks and roots give it outstanding yield potential across most of the Northeast.

• 201-00DGVT2PRIB Blend: It's a 101RM hybrid with the Genuity VT Double PRO plus DroughtGard RIB Complete traits with very good vigor for early planting, very good foliar health and stalk strength. A good performer in low to high yielding environments, it performs best at 30,000 to 35,000 plants per acre.

• 202-52STXRIB Blend: This early flowering 102 RM hybrid has Genuity SmartStax RIB Complete traitsd and is very consistent from emergence to ear development. It has a shorter plant stature with medium to low ear placement plus a strong foliar health package for gray leaf spot and NCLB.

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• 207-27STXRIB Blend: The 107 RM hybrid with the Genuity SmartStax RIB Complete hybrid sports consistent emergence and vigor. It can complement 207-13VT3PRIB Blend for grain or silage while adding more adaptability across all cropping systems and management practices.

• 209-53STXRIB Blend: It's a very stable 109 RM grain hybrid with the Genuity SmartStax RIB Complete, an excellent fit for any rotation. Other key traits include very good disease tolerance and strong stalks, early flowering, plus stability across all environments at medium to high populations.

DeKalb
• DKC46-20RIB Blend: It's a 96-RM product with consistent high yield potential over a wide geography. 

With excellent NCLB tolerance plus good heat and drought tolerance and, it's a strong product for early grain or silage.

• DKC49-72RIB Blend: A 99-RM product, it's a proven leader in the Northeast with wide adaptation and high yield potential. A very good disease package an fast dry-down make ideal choice for continuous corn.

• DKC54-38RIB: This sought-after 104 RM corn is an exciting newer performer with amazing top-end yield potential. Available as both SmartStax and VT2P, it brings good disease and drought tolerance, good ear flex and stress tolerance. And it responds well to increased populations.

• DKC58-06RIB: It's a new 108 RM SmartStax product with excellent stress and disease tolerance. During local Northeast and Mid-Atlantic plot testing in 2015, this product had outstanding performance and set a new standard for what a 105 to 110 RM product can do. 

• DKC63-35RIB: This 113 RM corn works on almost any acre or end use. Available as both SmartStax and VT2P, it delivers top-end yield potential, low-end yield stability, plus consistent high silage tonnage. Widely adapted from Virginia through New England, it brings fast drydown and consistency to the farm.

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DuPont Pioneer
• P9789AMXT: It's a high-yield offering in a 97-CRM Optimum AcreMax Xtreme product with fully integrated above and below ground insect protection.

• P0157AMX: This 101-CRM Optimum AQUAmax tech product offers high yield plus above and below ground integrated refuge protection, strong drought tolerance and disease resistance. It's a great dual-purpose option for grain or silage.

• P0339AM: With superior stalks, roots and shorter plant stature, this new 103-CRM Optimum AQUAmax product offers excellent yield potential and drought tolerance. 

• P0506AM: It offers top-end yield potential in a 105-CRM Optimum AcreMax option. This product has good disease resistance. With superior drought tolerance, it's well suited to diverse soil types.

• P1197AM/AMXT: This 111-CRM leader with Optimum AcreMax and Optimum AcreMax Xtreme offers excellent stability across diverse environments. It has outstanding disease tolerance and late-season plant health making it a great option under most crop rotations.

Hubner
• H6052RCSS: 92-day corn. This Genuity SmartStax RIB Complete hybrid has top-end yield potential, strong emergence, standability and drought tolerance, plus very good disease tolerance, particularly for NCLB.

• H6191RCSS: 99-day corn. Genuity®SmartStax RIB Complete genetics provides very good plant health, very good drought tolerance and strong agronomics with exceptional yield potential for grain and silage.

• H11G224: 111-day corn. GenuityDroughtGard genes combine top ratings for drought tolerance and yield potential to perform well in varying soil types and yield environments. DroughtGard products offer above ground insect protection plus a 5% refuge-in-bag convenience.

• H5663RC3P: 113-day corn. This GenuityVT Triple PRO RIB Complete hybrid is a robust, dual purpose product with exceptional top-end yield potential, plus very strong agronomics and above average drought tolerance.  It performs best on rotated acres.

• H6764RCSS: 114-day corn. Its Genuity SmartStax RIB Complete package offers strong agronomics and disease tolerance in a big, healthy, dual-purpose product broadly adapted to perform well on most soils and yield environments. It also has very good harvest appearance, drydown and test weight traits.

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Mycogen
• BMR97B34: This tall 97 RM hybrid has excellent eye appeal that brings strong tonnage with good starch scores. Its semi-flex ear trait provides flexibility across variable plant densities.

• BMR10B27 RA: It's a high-tonnage 110 RM hybrid with excellent neutral detergent fiber digestibility and starch scores. Improved stalk and ear height produces consistent ears down the row with excellent tip fill and husk coverage.

• TMF91Q25: A tall 91 RM hybrid, it has excellent harvest eye appeal, good leaf disease tolerance, good NDFD, starch scores, tip fill and consistent ear development. It is an excellent choice for narrow rows and does well on variable soil types.

• TMF99Q47 RA: This tall 99 RM hybrid has medium-high ear placement and strong NCLB tolerance. It provides excellent husk coverage and consistent ear fill, along with good late-season plant health for extending your harvest window.

• TMF14L46: It's a tall 114 RM corn bringing high-quality silage with excellent digestibility and starch content. This hybrid produces maximum tonnage and big ears with adequate disease tolerance and exceptional drought stress tolerance.

Seed Consultants
• SCS 10RR34: 103-day maturity. Key traits are excellent yield potential with proven performance, very good test weight and food grade potential. Impressive agronomics include strong stalks, roots and fall intactness. Earlier silking helps it handle stress, and it has strong tolerance to gray leaf spot plus northern corn leaf blight.

• SCS 10HR43:104-day maturity. This moderate plant stature produces excellent yield. It topped Michigan State University Zone 1 trials at 257.5 bushels per acre. It has strong GLS and NCLB resistance plus excellent drought tolerance.

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• SCS 1066YHR: 106-day maturity. Outstanding top-end yield potential made it a consistent test plot winner in 2014. Excellent emergence means you can plant it first. Impressive agronomics include strong stalks, roots and brittle snap tolerance, plus strong GLS and NCLB resistance.

• SCS 1085YHR: 108-day maturity. Elite genetics adapts this taller statured plant well to Eastern Corn Belt's variable soils, with excellent stress tolerance for southern movement. First in Ohio State University's NC/NE early corn test with a 262.5 bushels, it has excellent test weight and grain quality, exceptional GLS and NCLB resistance, plus food grade potential.

• SC 10GT96: 109-day maturity. Widely adapted to Eastern Corn Belt growing conditions, it's consistent with outstanding yield potential, strong stalks and roots plus very good GLS and NCLB resistance. It ranked first in Seed Consultant's 108-day maturity group summary with 230.8 bushels.

Syngenta/NK
• N27P-3110A: This 90-day Agrisure Artesian hybrid combines season-long drought protection, superior stalks, good roots, very good northern corn leaf blight tolerance, late-season plant health and high yields in one package. The high test-weight, fast-drying product is a good choice for early planting and early harvest.

• N40F-5122 E-Z Refuge: This 98-day widely adapted medium tall corn brings defensive agronomics, superb NCLB tolerance plus top-end yield potential. Strong stalks and rapid drydown will ease harvest of it's good test weight.

• N58S-3220 E-Z Refuge: The 106-day hybrid is a short-statured plant with excellent roots and strong stalks, with very good drought stress capacity for performing well on variable soils. Long deep kernels on consistent blocky ears deliver higher yields. It's a great choice for highly productive corn-on-corn soils.

• N66V-3000GT: This 110-day tall plant carries a strong foliar disease package, outstanding test weight, rapid drydown and grain quality. It'll work on your best acres an in narrow rows, yet has exceptional stress capacity making it a good choice on variable soils. Narrow upright leaves makes high-quality silage and tonnage comparable to longer maturity hybrids.

• N72X-5222 E-Z Refuge: A 112-day medium statured product, it produces top-end yields in high yield environments with a strong foliar disease package along with dependable stalks and roots for ease of harvest. The low set blocky ears and long deep kernels pack on more yield with very good drydown.

TA Seeds
• TA455: 95-day RM with Agrisure Viptera 3220 EZ-Refuge traits. Primarily for grain use, it also has dual-purpose versatility due to elite yield potential with great stalks and foliar package. This hybrid excels in both higher and lower yield environments with excellent test weight.

• TA486: 98-RM. This Genuity VT Triple PRO corn is a NutriDense silage-specific hybrid with enhanced nutritional performance, excellent forage yield and quality for milk production. It's an attractive plant built for moderate to higher performing soils.

• TA506: 100-day RM. It's stacked with Genuity SmartStax RIB Complete and Genuity VT Double PRO RIB Complete. A grain hybrid with strong stalks and roots supporting high yield potential, this medium-statured plant is a solid performer even under drought and stress tolerance. 

• TA616: 110-day RM. This Genuity VT Double PRO corn also has Genuity VT Triple PRO genetics. Great early vigor gives the NutriDense silage-specific hybrid a strong start, plus enhanced nutritional feed efficiency performance for milk production.

• TA736: 113-day RM. Genuity VT Double PRO RIB Complete genetics give this medium-tall plant dual-purpose potential with great agronomics. With very good drought tolerance and plant health, it moves north and south well.

If you're favorite seed brand didn't appear here, ask your seed distributor why.