Fw: Narrower Row Spacing Boosts Corn Yields

**"Doreen Howard" doreenh@ticon.net>**

This may be of interest to those on the list who write about vegetables.  A
personal observation--I've been planting corn on 12-inch centers (12 inches
in each direction) for years and have always gotten terrific yields--at
least two large ears per plant.  Of course, you have to concentrate on
building the soil rather than just adding more fertilizer.
Doreen Howard
---------------------------------------------------------------
----- Original Message -----
From: "ARS News Service" <NewsService@ars.usda.gov>
To: "ARS News subscriber" <doreenh@ticon.net>
Sent: Thursday, July 25, 2002 8:28 AM
Subject: Narrower Row Spacing Boosts Corn Yields


> STORY LEAD:
> Narrower Row Spacing Boosts Corn Yields
>
> ___________________________________________
>
> ARS News Service
> Agricultural Research Service, USDA
> David Elstein, (301) 504-1654, delstein@ars.usda.gov
> July 25, 2002
> ___________________________________________
>
> Planting corn in rows spaced 15 inches apart rather than the traditional
> 30 inches increases yields and has other benefits as well, according to
> Agricultural Research Service scientists who are studying the benefits of
> narrower row spacing.
>
> ARS soil scientists Ardell Halvorson and Curtis Reule of the
> Soil-Plant-Nutrient Laboratory in Fort Collins, Colo., have found a 20
> percent yield increase in the first year of a study using the narrower
> spacing. The researchers do not know exactly why the yield increased, but
> the corn may be using sunlight, water and nutrients more efficiently in
> the more closely spaced rows, according to Halvorson.
>
> In addition to higher yields, farmers who plant corn in narrow rows should
> have fewer weeds, because increased shading from the corn plants and
> competition for water, sunlight and nutrients makes it tougher for weeds
> to survive.
>
> Farmers who decide to plant corn in rows with 15-inch spacing will likely
> have to modify existing planters and combines or buy new equipment. But
> Halvorson says the yield advantage and weed control benefits of narrow
> rows may justify Great Plains farmers' buying the new equipment or
> modifying their existing equipment to farm on the more narrowly spaced
> rows.
>
> Halvorson studied row spacing of dryland corn and sunflowers in North
> Dakota and found similar benefits from narrower rows. Other researchers
> have gotten similar results with various crops such as soybeans, and
> narrow rows may help backyard gardeners decrease weed competition in their
> gardens.
>
> Halvorson and Reule are repeating their study this year, but the initial
> results are consistent with earlier research on narrow spacing of crops.
>
> ARS is the U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief scientific research
> agency.
>
> ___________________________________________
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>

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