Tips for Corn

Vereecke admits that organic no-till corn can be a challenging system and researchers are still looking for answers to some challenges.

“Anything I’ve tried, anything I’ve seen farmers try, has been very complicated regarding results for the yield of the corn.” Nevertheless, she shares her insights and suggestions to help producers improve their results.

A 2019-2022 study of organic no-till corn returned disappointing yields compared to those of organic-tilled corn. Vereecke believes these numbers may improve as advancements are made in planter technology and corn genetics.

Timing: Corn has an earlier planting date than soybeans, but you need the cover crop to be flowering, in anthesis, to properly crimp it. Plant breeding might improve this, Vereecke hypothesizes, or improvements to the machinery used for crimping.

Annual cover crop: Vereecke reports mixed results for trials of annual cover crops. Crimping wheat didn’t work well. Hairy vetch crimps well but flowers too late. Crimson and Balansa clover didn’t return enough data. Peas and chickling vetch didn’t crimp well. Crimping twice may be necessary in some cases. But Vereecke cautions, the more mechanical passes you make, the greater the risk of damaging your growing crop.

Perennial covers: Perennial covers require additional management. “Perennial covers are a beast,” quips Vereecke. “They have massive tap roots. Beating up their above-ground biomass, you’re going to have to do that a lot for the cover to die.” On a positive note, she states, “You’re not constrained by the flowering time. It doesn’t matter when they flower; you’re just going to keep mowing, cutting, flaming or rolling them.”

Vereecke tested red clover as a cover crop, sowing it with a small grain and waiting a year before planting into it. Her team tried several management approaches to ensure the corn had an advantage.

“We tried undercutting the clover with a high-residue cultivator. We do that before planting. We’ve tried flaming. Flaming didn’t make much difference at all. We’ve tried managing it with an inner-row crimper and a high-residue cultivator,” she notes.

“The only thing that made a difference,” according to Vereecke, “was undercutting before planting our corn. If you undercut, you’re cutting the roots of the clover, but the clover biomass stays on the ground to protect against the weeds.”

Soil conditions will influence the effectiveness of this approach. Termination of clover is easier when the soil is dry. Vereecke explains, “If you undercut the clover in dry conditions, it loses a lot of biomass. In wet weather, it’ll remain alive and keep growing.”

Planter setup: Disappointing corn yields inspired Vereecke to experiment with planter configurations. She admits the yields aren’t great yet. One tweak that helped was using a standard rubber closing wheel instead of an aftermarket closing wheel.

One of the reasons, she suspects, was weed pressure, as the aftermarket wheel was “spiky” and it poked holes in the cover and the ground, which favored weed pressure in the row.

Parting Thoughts

Change invites challenges, and transitioning to a chemical-free system is no exception. From biomass goals to planting dates, Vereecke’s guidelines pave the way for a smoother and more profitable adjustment.

Even so, variables like geography, weather, and crop rotations will require a degree of experimentation and innovation.

“A lot of what I represent has happened on a research station or has happened on one farm in one specific location. It will not work on your farm the same way, so each practice has to be taken and understood differently depending on where you are,” Vereecke says. “These are all things we’ve tried. Please, build on what we’ve done instead of starting from ground zero all over again.”

Challenges aside, some benefits of organic production, like decreased erosion, improved water retention, and the promise of premium prices, make the change worth considering. Others, like improved biodiversity and food security, extend beyond personal interests. In adopting these new, chemical-free practices, growers serve a higher purpose: fostering a healthier and more sustainable agricultural heritage for generations to come.