American Agriculturist Logo

This is our second list of 2021 “Top 5” corn and soybean varieties geared to Northeast and Mid-Atlantic growers.

Chris Torres, Editor, American Agriculturist

October 16, 2020

8 Min Read
Farmer loads soybean seed into hoppers of the planter
KEEP SHOPPING: Last month we presented our first list of “Top 5” corn and soybean varieties from the seed companies. But you deserve variety, so we compiled a second list for your reading pleasure.fotokostic/Getty Images

You deserve options when it comes to shopping for corn and soybeans. Many of the brands out there on the market have different names, but most fall under the umbrella of a larger company — think Bayer and Corteva.

But you still have options. Some varieties might work better on your farm than others, so it’s important to do the research before you pick something for next year.

American Agriculturist asked top seed companies for their “Top 5” corn and soybean varieties for 2021. These are varieties geared to Northeast and Mid-Atlantic farmers.

Below is a list of companies that have responded to our request for top hybrids. The list will be updated as more companies reveal their top choices.

For readability, "RIB stands for “refuge in bag” and RM stands for “relative maturity.”

If you have any questions on a variety, contact your local seed dealer or email American Agriculturist at [email protected].

Augusta (corn)

A3053 (103RM). A new hybrid in the Augusta Seed lineup, this does well across soil types but really excels in fields with top-end yield potential. This hybrid can withstand low or high plant population environments.  It is a healthy plant and will have higher end test weight as well.

A4858 (108RM). This a flexible hybrid that can be planted across soil types, populations and environments. It tends to flower early and, therefore, avoids pollination during the hottest time of the year. High test weight and a semi-flex ear are hallmarks of A4858. 

A4759 (109RM). Widely adaptable across environments, it is a very consistent hybrid that enjoys medium to high planting populations. This hybrid has strong roots and stalks and does well in corn-after-corn situations. Place A4759 on your farm and you will notice excellent early vigor and late-season stay green.

A1060 (110RM). This is a new hybrid for Augusta Seed. It puts on a girthy ear that often forms 18 to 20 rows around.  Superior health is a hallmark of this hybrid. It is very stable under stress and it enjoys high populations up to 38,000 plants per acre. 

A4463 (113RM). This hybrid has an outstanding agronomic package. It puts on a semi-flex ear with good test weight.  It has a balanced ear style with good tip fill and husk coverage. It has good late-season health and intactness.  It is an all-around good hybrid that will produce well across soil types.  

King’s Agriseeds (corn)

MC 4050. This is a popular 90-day variety that is known for superb silage quality while offering high yield potential for a short day-length hybrid. It fits well into aggressively managed operations and has an upright leaf structure. This hybrid also performs well as an early hybrid in longer-season areas.

MC 5250. A top-selling 102-day silage hybrid that is favored among silage producers, MC 5250 is a white cob hybrid that has wide, showy leaves. Its outstanding health and agronomic package leave it green to the end of the season. It’s known for consistent yields and adaptation to varying soil-carrying capacities.

KF 54C10. This is a 104-day variety that’s broadly adapted and handles a wide range of soils, populations and environments on the East Coast. It flexes in both ear and stalk and has outstanding agronomics to stand behind it for solid silage yields.

KF 58C80. A quick canopy closer with strong stalks and roots with flexible ears, KF58C80 offers stress tolerance and a very good overall plant health package. It is a 108-day variety that has excellent emergence and seedling vigor.

KF 63C10. A high silage producer in terms of both quantity and quality, along with good ear length and excellent flex, deep kernels, highly rated disease package, and drought and heat tolerance. This versatile 113-day hybrid covers all soil types.

Mid-Atlantic (corn)

MA7002HD (100RM). The increased leaf area index requires decreased planting populations. An extremely long drydown allows for optimum harvest window. The floury endosperm in kernel creates a shattering effect when harvested, allowing for decreased fermentation window in silage. It’s available as conventional, organic and Roundup Ready.

MA8039 (103RM). A top-end early season grain hybrid with very good test weight. It has excellent emergence and early season plant vigor. It has an attractive in-season appearance with very good stress tolerance and strong agronomics with excellent movement across all yield environments. Available as VT2PRIB, SSRIB.

MA8128 (112RM). Dual-purpose hybrid with tremendous grain and silage yields. Excellent stress tolerance, especially to heat and drought stress. Excellent stay-green and late-season plant intactness. It should be placed in moderate to high yield environments. It’s available as Conventional, VT2PRIB, SSRIB.

MA8141 (114RM). A dual-purpose variety for increased flexibility, it very high yielding with high test weight for increased profits. It provides excellent yields in productive to moderate environments with very good stalks and roots to increase harvest window. Available as conventional, DGVT2PRIB or SSRIB.

MA5155 (115RM). An attractive medium-tall hybrid with flex ears and excellent test weight. It has excellent grain yields with excellent plant health for tough acres. It yields best under moderate to high planting populations and high fertility. Available as GT3VIP.

Hubner (corn)

H4890RC2P (117RM). An attractive product with a solid disease tolerance package including very good tolerance to Northern corn leaf blight and gray leaf spot.

H6763RCSS/H4763RC2P (115RM). Excellent yield potential and consistency with this dual-purpose product. Strong agronomics pushes performance of this variety.

09G056 (109RM). Great yield potential in this DroughtGard product. It has good ear flex and excellent ear girth.

H6301RCSS (107RM). Strong emergence and vigor early season with outstanding test weight at harvest. Excellent drought tolerance and harvest intactness.

H6134RCSS (96RM). Very good agronomic package with good emergence and seedling vigor. It has also very good grain quality and test weight.

Pioneer (corn — Mid-Atlantic)

P0843AM. Stable and high yield potential product with excellent agronomics and foliar disease resistance. Highly suitable for early planting and wet, cold soils.

P1077AM. An offensive top-end yield producer that responds well to high inputs. It offers very good grain quality and test weight.

P1197AM. This product has outstanding top-end yield potential. Strong agronomics help it adapt to a variety of management approaches. It performs best when positioned on moderate to high yield environments.

P1464AML. An optimum AcreMax Leptra product with superior control of above-ground pests, it has outstanding top-end yield potential and very good drought tolerance.

P1506AM. A new product for 2021, it has top-end yield potential that responds well to high inputs and nice plant stature for grain. It offers very good quality and test weight.

Pioneer (corn — Northeast)

P9880AM. An offensive product that brings very good drought tolerance, top-end yield potential and competitive Northern corn leaf blight resistance.

P0075Q/P0075AM. This variety brings yield with excellent agronomics and good late-season stalk observations. It is highly suitable for early planting and wet, cold soils. It also has excellent foliar disease resistance.

P0843AM. A stable and high yield potential product, it has excellent agronomics and foliar disease resistance. It is highly suitable for early planting and wet, cold soils.

P1089AMXT brand. An optimum AQUAmax product with excellent drought tolerance for a wide range of yield environments. This dual-purpose product brings stability and excellent agronomics. It has above-average NLB and GLS resistance that allows placement under most crop rotations.

P1077AM. An offensive top-end yield producer that responds well to high inputs. It has very good grain quality and test weight.

Mid-Atlantic (soybeans)

MAS3220E3 (3.2RM). A high-yielding soybean with defensive traits to protect yield in any environment. It has a medium-tall plant height with strong lateral branching. It has excellent stress tolerance, emergence and southern movement.

MAS3600E3/STS (3.6RM). A top-end mid-group 3 soybean with excellent agronomics. It has an attractive in-season field appearance with excellent stress tolerance and strong emergence. It performs well in both low- and high-yield environments.

MAS3720E3/STS (3.7RM). A high-yielding soybean with strong agronomics and high stress tolerance. Medium plant height with strong lateral branching, it has excellent stress tolerance and strong frog eye leaf spot resistance.

MAS4077GT/STS (4.0RM). The variety offers high yields through environmental stress with very good standability for harvest. It produces a very large, bushy bean.

MAS4120E3 (4.1RM). This variety has tremendous yield potential with excellent plant health. It has an attractive in-season field appearance with intermediate-narrow growth habit. It also features excellent stress tolerance and sudden death syndrome tolerance.

Hubner (soybeans)

H46-29R2X (4.6RM). Excellent standability with very good Southern stem canker tolerance and good sudden death syndrome tolerance. Roundup Ready 2 Xtend stacked with Sulfonylurea-based herbicide tolerance.

H43-27R2X (4.3RM). This variety is highly adaptable to a broad range of soils and yield environments. Roundup Ready 2 Xtend stacked with Sulfonylurea-based herbicide tolerance.  

H42-28R2X (4.2RM). This has great potential in better-drained soils with good yield potential and excellent standability.

H33-40R2X (3.3RM). This variety has excellent standability paired with a good disease tolerance package including good sudden death syndrome tolerance. This is a high yielding Round Ready 2 Xtend soybean.

Pioneer (soybeans — Mid-Atlantic)

P41T07E. An early group 4 with Enlist E3 technology that offers competitive frogeye leaf spot tolerance and excellent harvest standability.

P42A96X. An early group 4 with Roundup Ready 2 Xtend technology that offers top-end yields. It has good foliar disease tolerance and is highly suitable for full-season or double-crop acres.

P44T04SE. A mid group 4 with Enlist E3 technology that offers exceptional frogeye leaf spot resistance and very good harvest standability.

P46A45PR. A mid group 4 Plenish soybean suitable for dryland and double-crop acres. It offers above-average plant height.

P48A94PR. A late group 4 Plenish soybean with top-end yield potential. It highly suitable for full-season or double-crop acres.

Pioneer (soybeans — Northeast)

P28T14E. A late group 2 product that brings very good harvest standability and outstanding frogeye leaf spot tolerance.

P31T64E. An early group 3 product that offers excellent Phytophthora root rot protection and excellent frogeye leaf spot resistance.

P34T21SE. A mid group 3 product that brings height and very good harvest standability along with impressive frogeye leaf spot tolerance.

P39T61SE. A late group product that brings yield potential and good agronomics. It also has competitive charcoal rot tolerance.

P41T07E. An early group 4 product that offers competitive frogeye leaf spot tolerance and excellent harvest standability.

Read more about:

Seed

About the Author(s)

Chris Torres

Editor, American Agriculturist

Chris Torres, editor of American Agriculturist, previously worked at Lancaster Farming, where he started in 2006 as a staff writer and later became regional editor. Torres is a seven-time winner of the Keystone Press Awards, handed out by the Pennsylvania Press Association, and he is a Pennsylvania State University graduate.

Torres says he wants American Agriculturist to be farmers' "go-to product, continuing the legacy and high standard (former American Agriculturist editor) John Vogel has set." Torres succeeds Vogel, who retired after 47 years with Farm Progress and its related publications.

"The news business is a challenging job," Torres says. "It makes you think outside your small box, and you have to formulate what the reader wants to see from the overall product. It's rewarding to see a nice product in the end."

Torres' family is based in Lebanon County, Pa. His wife grew up on a small farm in Berks County, Pa., where they raised corn, soybeans, feeder cattle and more. Torres and his wife are parents to three young boys.

Subscribe to receive top agriculture news
Be informed daily with these free e-newsletters

You May Also Like