Ask The Agronomist Blog

Stine Seed What's the right corn planting population for my operation?

September 24, 2009
Posted by: Stine Seed

A recent study indicated almost half of farmers had not changed their seeding rate in the past five years, even though seed technology has changed dramatically over that period of time.

If you haven’t thought about your planting populations recently, it’s time to reconsider. Populations have a significant impact on yield. But how do you choose the best population for your farm? The answer isn’t exactly black and white.

Plant population does impact yield. Ranges are often in the 20,000 to 40,000 plants per acre, with the variance based on row width, soil type, and yield goal.Typically, lower planting rates are recommended for fields with low yield potential or poor soil and higher rates are encouraged with fertile soil.

Today’s technology has allowed us to develop hybrids that excel in each scenario, so we can forecast the optimum planting rate by hybrid in each individual field situation. This is possible by developing plants with a greater leaf area index, allowing maximum light interception.

The key ingredient along with fertility for capturing maximum yield is sunlight. Ideally you should look down the row pre-tassel and not see any filtration of sunlight. If this is done you are capturing all the sunlight possible for photosynthesis, the way the plant makes it food. 

One key point to remember is to plant 5 to 15 percent more than your expected final stand to allow for germination failure and seedling mortality.

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