In spring 2016, the Beck’s Practical Farm Research team announced a three-year study on narrow-row corn. Ryan McAllister, Beck’s PFR director, says this season marks a step toward understanding the potential yield benefits and management practices associated with 20-inch-row corn.

While there’s more work to be done with the three-year study, McAllister says they did learn a few things this year. The first lesson from the 2016 growing season: Low populations were very profitable.

 “The economic optimum seeding rate was much lower than we’ve seen in years,” he says.

Crop stress at key growth stages impacted yield levels at the trial locations in Ford, Livingston and Kankakee counties. The plots planted at lower populations were able to handle the stress better, McAllister says.

“Corn yields were good, but not as high as we were anticipating,” McAllister notes. “More plants in general didn’t pay, regardless of the row width.”

Trial results showed 32,000 seeds per acre as the economic optimum seeding rate for both 20-inch and 30-inch rows. In the 20-inch rows, yield increased with higher populations, but not enough to offset the price of seed, McAllister explains.

And while the 20-inch rows did net a $4.60-per-acre-higher return, McAllister points out that’s not enough for farmers to overhaul their operation. However, based on previous narrow-row studies where 20-inch-row corn outyielded 30-inch-row corn, McAllister is confident that further testing will reveal a more significant advantage.

Beck’s plans to move the custom-built, 40-foot Harvest International planter to central Indiana in 2017. The final year of the study will be conducted in Ohio, Missouri or Iowa in 2018.

McAllister adds they will expand the narrow-row study and look at other factors in addition to seeding rates, such as nitrogen programs. And the research team plans to run 20-inch-row soybean trials, working under the assumption that farmers who switch to narrow-row corn would follow suit with soybeans.

For a full report of the trial results, download the 2016 Beck’s Practical Farm Research Book.