Authors: Sydney Williams and Shivendra Kumar

Florida’s Basin Management Action Plan (BMAP) is a comprehensive framework for restoring water quality by reducing pollutant loading in water bodies. In the Suwannee Valley region, which is home to 62 first- and second-magnitude springs and 113 lesser-magnitude springs, agricultural fertilizer is the primary contributor (~68%) of nitrogen load, necessitating more efficient management practices. The goal of our Extension work is to sustain the agricultural industry while reducing agricultural nitrogen load by 5.8 million pounds per year by 2035 through the widespread adoption of Best Management Practices (BMPs). The three most nitrogen-intensive crops in the Suwannee Valley region are hay (~80,000 acres), corn (~50,000 acres), and vegetables (~20,000 acres). Each year, corn growers choose a corn variety while considering factors such as field conditions, cultivation history and practices, irrigation, and pressures from weeds, diseases, pests, and nematodes. A BMP-focused grain corn variety trial was designed to help the farming community by providing yield and agronomic information related to variety selection for sustainable and profitable farming. To give producers an opportunity to see the trial in action, NFREC-Suwannee Valley hosted a 2024 Corn Field Day, attended by 112 industry representatives, researchers, extension agents, and growers.

Objective

The Extension team at UF/IFAS North Florida Research and Education Center – Suwannee Valley conducted this grain corn variety trial keeping Best Management Practices (BMPs) in focus to strike a balance between environmental stewardship and profitable farming. This ongoing trial enables local growers to observe the performance of various corn varieties under BMP-focused management specific to the Suwannee Valley region, providing valuable insights and informed recommendations for region-specific variety selection.

The BMPs implemented throughout this trial included grid soil sampling, variable-rate lime application, multispecies cover crops with legumes, strip tillage, adherence to the 4Rs of nutrient management (right source, right time, right place, and right rate), nitrogen management aids, weekly tissue sampling, fertigation, crop scouting, application of carbon sources and soil microbes, optimal irrigation water management using soil moisture probes, FAWN weather data, and 10-day NOAA weather forecasting.

Treatments

The trial featured eighteen grain corn varieties from nine different seed companies, with each treatment planted at a population density of 30,000 seeds per acre. The trial included four replications of each variety, with plot placement determined by randomized order. Before planting, the trial plots were sown with a multi-species blend cover crop that was terminated with Glyphosate and 2, 4D Amine at the end of March, just a few weeks before planting the corn.

Results

Below are the performance results of the varieties in the 2024 BMP grain corn variety trial. The information related to previous years trials, such as planting dates, fertilization regimes, yields, and more, is available on the NFREC-Suwannee Valley website, which can be found using the link, https://svaec.ifas.ufl.edu/crops/agronomic-crops/corn/.

Growers are encouraged to use this data to make informed decisions for a profitable grain corn crop. As seed companies develop new hybrids for grain corn each year, the regional BMP grain corn variety trial becomes increasingly important for providing local data to support better decision-making.

Acknowledgments

Joel Love, Keith Wynn, Emily Beach, Nicholas Dufault, Kevin Korus, and Anthony Crain contributed to this project.

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