Performance of Commercial Corn Hybrids under Conventional and No-Tillage Systems

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Abstract
As the acreage of corn (Zea mays L.) planted using a no-tillage (NT) system increases, growers are faced with deciding among corn hybrids that have been compared in performance tests conducted under a conventional tillage (CT), or moldboard plow, system. A field study was conducted at two Michigan locations in 1985 and 1986 to compare corn growth and yield under CT and NT systems, and to determine if hybrid × tillage system interactions were significant. Either 18 (East Lansing, EL) or 15 (Kellogg Biological Station, KBS) commercially-grown hybrids were planted on a fine loamy, mixed, mesic Aerie Ochraqualf and a coarse loamy, mixed, mesic Typic Hapludalf soil, respectively. At both locations, tillage system influenced total emergence and emergence rate, with the number of days to 75% of total emergence between 0.5 and 2.5 d greater for NT than CT. Plant and ear height was greater for CT than for NT only at EL in 1985. Silking occurred earlier in CT than in NT plots at both locations in both years. Averaged over hybrids, there was no difference in grain yield between tillage systems, although grain moisture at harvest was greater under NT (X̅ = 30.1%) than CT (X̅ = 28.7%). No significant hybrid × tillage interactions were observed for grain yield, silage yield, grain moisture percentage, or plant height. This indicates that corn growers can successfully select hybrids for a NT system using performance results gathered from CT trials. There were, however, several hybrids that in a particular location or year performed exceptionally well under one tillage system and not the other. Although there may be opportunities for a grower to identify an individual hybrid that will produce a significantly higher yield with a NT system relative to the response of other hybrids, these results suggest that the effort may not be justified.