Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

Business Meeting and State Reports

Present: Jim Breining, Paul Brautigam, Harkirat Kaur, Kaitlin Fusilier, Maninder Singh, Mark Jones, Chrstopher Nacci, Peter Thomison, and Alex Lindsey.

Alex Lindsey called the meeting to order at 2:15 PM. Alex Lindsey asked for reports from the Industry and University Representatives, and can be found below the notes from the business meeting.

Discussion of the 74^th annual meeting host and location was discussed, with Paul Brautigam suggesting reaching out to Becks Seed Company in Atlanta, IN. Paul mentioned connections with the Agronomic lead for the company, and Mark Jones mentioned contacts within the breeding area at the Atlanta location. It was agreed that this as a potential organizer and/or host for 2021 should be investigated.

Business meeting was adjourned at 3:15PM.

Respectfully submitted,

Alex Lindsey, The Ohio State University

2019 Pennsylvania State Report

Jim Breining

Pennsylvania experienced a pretty fair production year, especially compared to 2018. March and April featured slightly above normal temperatures and rainfall. A few areas of the state were planted the last week of April. However, most planting started in earnest the week of May first. The first of my 20 corn variety trial locations were planted on May 8. Several significant rain events caused delays and pushed back completion of planting until June 12. Overall emergence of plots was very good. We did lose a northern Bradford County location due to flash flooding and poor stand establishment. Several locations required post herbicide and or fertilizer applications to get them back on track.

Stand establishment counts were taken through the month of June. As previously stated, overall stand counts were very good and field maintenance work was performed where necessary. Our summer months featured seasonably warm temperatures and normal rainfall. The southern half of the state was getting dry towards the beginning of August. Grain development in the fuller season hybrids was somewhat impacted by this stress, especially where the corn was planted later in May. This probably best explains why the longer season hybrids in our full season grain and corn silage trials lagged the earlier and mid-season hybrids at those same test sites.

We started harvesting the 158 entries entered in our commercial corn silage variety trials on August 26 at 2 Lancaster County sites. Harvesting continued through the month of September and ended on October 1^st. Yield and quality were good at all locations. The early season trials (85-103 day RM) averaged 19.1 tons/acre; Mid-season trials (100-111 day RM) averaged 20.3 tons/acre; and Full season trials (111-120 day RM) averaged 24.7 tons/acre.

Our corn silage variety testing program is a 15-year effort by Penn State University and the Professional Dairy Managers of Pennsylvania (PDMP) to evaluate corn varieties for yield and quality. In order to advance and update MILK 2006, our program is in a collaborative effort with Cornell University, the University of Vermont, and the Dairy Nutrition Industry to develop a new quality index based on organic matter digestibility of protein, fat, NDF, and starch called the OMD index (organic matter digestibility). The OMD Index – using data derived from wet chemistry analyses – will provide a useful metric to rank hybrids; furthermore, the OMD Index will provide nutritionists with an estimate of rumen fermentability – or fuel – overall.

We had 118 entries in our commercial corn grain trials. Those harvests got underway on October 14 and were completed on November 21^st. Our Zone 1 trials (85-100 day RM) yielded 178.2 bu/acre; Zone 2 (101-109 day RM) yielded 186.2 bu/acre, and combined zones 3-4 (110-120 day RM) yielded 232.2 bu/acre.

NASS corn data for production year 2019 in Pennsylvania showed a total of 1.45 million acres planted, up from 1.3 million acres planted in 2018. Acres harvested for grain was 1,060,000; acres harvested for silage was 380,000. Our corn grain yield for 2019 was 153.0 bu/acre, up from 140.0 bu/acre in 2018, but less than the 161.0 bu/acre record set in 2017. Corn silage yield for 2019 was estimated at 20.0 tons/acre, up from 19.0 tons/acre in 2018, but below the record 21.0 tons/acre in 2017. The national corn grain production was 163.0 bu/acre, which is down approximately 9 bu/acre from 2017 and 2018.

Michigan State Report

M. Singh and W. Widdicombe 

Michigan Corn Performance Trials (MCPT) evaluated 311 corn hybrids representing 24 commercial brands. These generated 463 entries resulting in 5,556 plots at 15 trial locations across the State of Michigan. Corn Grain Trials were comprised of 308 entries. Corn Silage trials realized a total of 155 entries with one of the silage locations conducted in Wood County (Ohio) in conjunction with The Ohio State University. 48 of the 311 total corn hybrids were entered into the conventional grain trials and treated with conventional herbicides.

The 2019 growing season was the wettest on record (since 1895) in Michigan. Total precipitation (April – October) averaged across the state was 28.59 inches (7.39 inches above normal). April- June period was 4^th wettest on record, and resulted in major planting delays throughout Michigan. As per National Agricultural Statistics Service (NAAS), only 42% of Michigan’s corn was planted by June 2, compared to the 5-yr (2014-2018) average of 87%. Overall, mean temperature for April-October period were close to the long term averages but showed high variability during the season, ranging from cooler weather early in the season to warmer than normal conditions during the late summer and early fall.

According to NASS, Michigan planted 2.0 million acres of corn and harvested 1.61 million acres for grain and 0.34 million acres for silage in the 2019 growing season. The average corn grain yield in Michigan was 149 bushels per acre, down 4 bushels from 2017. Silage yield averaged 18.5 tons per acre, an increase of 1.0 ton per acre compared to last year.

Michigan corn grain trial locations are divided into 4 zones based upon historical growing degree days. Three sets of trials are planted across each zone. Hybrids are grouped into early and late maturities within the zone based upon the relative maturity. Relative maturities for each hybrid are supplied by the participating seed companies. Table 1 provides zonal summaries for both early and late trials in each zone along with the conventional trials (Conv.). Yields ranged from 137.6 bushels per acre in Zone 4 Late to 249.1 bushels per acre in Zone 2 Early trials

Similarly, the corn silage locations are divided into three zone with zones 2 and 3 combined into one trial. Again the hybrids are grouped into early and late maturities within each zone base upon provided relative maturities. Table 2 summarizes the silage yields based upon 100% dry matter.

Confidence in corn performance data increase as the number of testing location increases. One-year single-site results are less reliable than multiple year and multiple location averaged and should be interpreted with caution. Look for consistencies in hybrid performances across a range of environmental conditions when selecting a hybrid for production. Complete result of the 2019 Michigan Corn Performance Trials including MSUE bulletin E-431 can be found online at: https://varietytrials.msu.edu/.

Table 1. Zonal summaries for Early (E) and Late (L) Grain Trials in the 2019 Michigan Corn Performance Trials.  Each data point represents 12 replications (3 locations per zone, 4 reps per location).

Table 2. Zonal summaries for Early and Late Silage Trials in the 2019 Michigan Corn Performance Trials.  Each data point represents 12 replications (3 locations per zone, 4 reps per location).

Ohio State Report

P. Thomison, R. Minyo, and A. Geyer

The spring of 2019 was one the wettest on record and resulted in major planting delays throughout Ohio. According to the National Agricultural Statistics Service, only 33% of Ohio's corn was planted by June 2. Five of the 10 OCPT test sites were planted in June (with dates ranging from June 4 to June 22). Excessive rainfall continued into late June and early July and was followed by much drier and warmer weather from July to September, which created stressful conditions for crop growth in some regions. Warm, dry conditions during grain fill were most evident at the South Charleston, Greenville, and Washington CH test sites in the Southwestern/West Central/Central region, and, to a lesser extent, at Bucyrus and the Columbiana County sites in the North Central/ Northeastern region. The Northwestern test sites, Van Wert, Hoytville and Upper Sandusky, received adequate, timely rainfall throughout the growing season that was favorable for corn development. Foliar diseases (Northern Corn Leaf Blight and Gray Leaf Spot) and ear rots, including Gibberrella and Diplodia, were observed at several OCPT locations but were generally present at low levels. Stalk rot (primarily Anthracnose) was present but stalk lodging was generally negligible and limited to a few hybrids.

Despite late planting dates and warmer and drier than normal conditions during grain fill, OCPT yields exceeded expectations. Averaged across hybrid entries in the early and full season tests, yields were 252 bu/A in the Southwestern/West Central/Central region, 234 bu/A in the Northwestern region, and 264 bu/A in the North Central/Northeastern region. Yields at individual test sites, averaged across hybrid entries in the early and full season tests, ranged from 215 bu/A at Hoytville to 282 bu/A at Hebron. Performance data for the Columbiana site in the North Central/ Northeastern region is not presented due to excess rainfall shortly after establishment and dry conditions during grainfill which resulted in inconsistent yields.

A primary goal and major accomplishment of the Northeastern Corn Improvement Conference is the exchange of ideas and information among the region's corn workers. This was successfully achieved through our annual meeting in February 2020, with a combination of research talks and reports from around the northeastern region. The annual meeting also met our goal to keep the region's corn workers abreast of emerging production issues, not only in the northeastern US and eastern Canada, but also around the corn growing regions of the world. Holding the meeting in Ohio facilitated the participation of those from the upper midwest (Michigan and Ohio), who have added fresh perspectives and breadth to our understanding of corn production issues and concerns.

As a regional coordinating committee, another very important goal of the Northeastern Corn Improvement Conference is to share region-specific research results that provide the corn seed industry and corn growers with guidance on crop and pest management. Research presentations in 2020 highlighted emerging issues and research results related to corn viruses, ear rots, western bean cutworm, precision agriculture, nitrogen dynamics in corn production, and cover crops. Presentations were informative and of broad interest to the regional corn research and production communities.

Finally, it is also our goal to foster graduate students' professional development. In 2020 we had several graduate student presentations on our program, which represents a good contribution towards this goal.

Peer-reviewed journal articles:

Alexander, J.R., J.M. Baker, R.T. Venterea, and J.A. Coulter. 2019. Kura clover living mulch reduces fertilizer N requirements and increases profitability of maize. Agronomy 9:432.https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy9080432

Baseggio, M., M. Murray, M. Magallanes-Lundback, N. Kaczmar, J. Chamness, E.S. Buckler, M.E. Smith, D. DellaPenna, W.F. Tracy, and M.A. Gore. 2019. Genome-wide association and genomic prediction models of tocochromanols in fresh sweet corn kernels. The Plant Genome 12(1).180038.

Lindsey*, A.J.; Thomison, P.R.; Nafziger, E.D. (2018). Modelling the effect of varied and fixed seeding rates at a small-plot scale. Agronomy Journal, 110 (6), 2456-2461. https://doi.org/10.2134/agronj2018.07.0426

Martinez-Feria, R.A., M.A. Licht, R.A. Ordóñez, J.L. Hatfield, J.A. Coulter, and S.V. Archontoulis. 2019. Evaluating maize and soybean grain dry-down in the field with predictive algorithms and genotype-by-environment analysis. Sci. Rep. 9:7167. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-43653-1

McFarland, B.A., N. AlKhalifah, M. Bohn, J. Bubert, E.S. Buckler, I. Ciampitti, J. Edwards, D. Ertl, J. L. Gage, C.M. Falcon, S. Flint-Garcia, M.A. Gore, C. Graham, C. Hirsch, J.B. Holland, E. Hood, D. Hooker, D. Jarquin, S.M. Kaeppler, J. Knoll, G. Kruger, N. Lauter, E.C. Lee, A. Lorenz, J.P. Lynch, J. McKay, N.D. Miller, S. P. Moose, S.C. Murray, R. Nelson, C. Poudyal, T. Rocheford, O. Rodriguez, M.C. Romay, J.C. Schnable, P.S. Schnable, B. Scully, R. Sekhon, K. Silverstein, M. Singh, M. Smith, E. Spalding, N. Springer, K. Thelen, P. Thomison, M. Tuinstra, J. Wallace, R. Walls, R.J. Wisser, W. Xu, Cheng-Ting Yeh and N. de Leon. 2019. Maize Genomes to Fields (G2F): 2014 –2017 field seasons’ genotype, phenotype, climatic, soil and inbred ear image datasets. BMC Research Notes. 13:71.  https://doi.org/10.1186/s13104-020-4922-8

Spackman, J.A., F.G. Fernández, J.A. Coulter, D.E. Kaiser, and G. Paiao. 2019. Soil texture and precipitation influence optimal time of nitrogen fertilization for corn. Agron. J. 111:2018–2030.https://doi.org/10.2134/agronj2018.09.0605

Tenorio, F.A.M., A.J. Eagle, E.L. McLellan, K.G. Cassman, R. Howard, F.E. Below, D.E. Clay, J.A. Coulter, A.B. Geyer, D.K. Joos, J.G. Lauer, M.A. Licht, A.J. Lindsey, B. Maharjan, C.M. Pittelkow, P.R. Thomison, C.S. Wortmann, V.O. Sadras, and P. Grassini. 2018. Assessing variation in maize grain nitrogen concentration and its implications for estimating nitrogen balance in the US North Central region. Field Crops Res. 240:185–193. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2018.01488

Research reports:

Baseggio, M., M. Murray, M. Magallanes-Lundbeck, N. Kaczmar, J. Chamness, E.S. Buckler, M.E. Smith, D. DellaPenna, W.F. Tracy, and M.A. Gore. 2018. The genetic basis of vitamin E and provitamin A levels in fresh sweet corn kernels.  Poster No. 1168.  ASA/CSSA/SSSA International Annual Meeting, 4-7 November 2018, Baltimore MD. https://scisoc.confex.com/scisoc/2018am/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/113755

Hoverstad, T., W. Ihlenfeld, J. Coulter, C. Reese, S. Quiring, and M. Hanson. 2018. Corn grain field crop trial results. In: Minnesota field crop trials, Univ. of Minnesota Agric. Exp. Stn, St. Paul. https://www.maes.umn.edu/sites/maes.umn.edu/files/2018_corn_grain_final.pdf.

Kass, L.B., E.H. Coe, M.N. Cook, M.E. Smith, J.L. Singer (Eds.) 2019. Founding of the Maize Genetics Cooperation News Letter at Cornell University: A 90^th Anniversary Tribute. (Foreword by E.S. Buckler) [e-book] Internet-First University Press, Ithaca, New York. https://ecommons.cornell.edu/handle/1813/66550

Lawrence, J., A. Kerwin, T. Overton, H. Darby, M. Smith, M. Van Amburgh, N. Dineen, S. Norman, K. Payne, D. Fisher, and S. Ziegler.  2019.  New York and Vermont Corn Silage Hybrid Evaluation Program - 2019.  Cornell University: Pro-Dairy, Animal Science, and Plant Breeding & Genetics; and University of Vermont Plant and Soil Science; Ithaca NY.  40 pp.

Singh, M.P., K. Cassida. 2019, Sept. 12. Management guidelines for immature and frosted corn silage. Forage Fact Sheet#19-04. Available at https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/management-guidelines-for-immature-and-frosted-corn-silage

Singh, M.P. and W.D. Widdicombe. 2019. 2019 Michigan Corn Hybrids compared. Michigan State University Extension bulletin E-431. Available athttps://varietytrials.msu.edu/corn.

Smith, M.E. and J. Singer.  2019.  Corn grain hybrid selection.  pp. 53-59.  In: Thomas-Murphy, J. (ed.) 2020 Cornell Guide for Integrated Field Crop Management.  Pesticide Management Education Program, Cornell University, Ithaca NY.  169 pp.

Smith, M.E., S.A. Norman, and J. Singer.  2019.  2018 New York Hybrid Corn Grain Performance Trials.  Cornell University, Cornell Cooperative Extension, Plant Breeding and Genetics 2019-1.  14 pp.

Extension articles:

Coulter, J. 2019. Corn development and yield: Dry conditions can reduce kernel size. In: Minnesota Crop News, Univ. of Minnesota, St. Paul. https://blog-crop-news.extension.umn.edu/2019/08/corn-development-and-yield-dry_27.html.

Joshi, V., J. Coulter, K. Thorp, G. Johnson, J. Strock, and A. Garcia y Garcia. 2019. Site-specific estimation of corn yield response to nitrogen fertilizer. In: Minnesota Crop News, Univ. of Minnesota, St. Paul. https://blog-crop-news.extension.umn.edu/2019/08/site-specific-estimation-of-corn-yield.html.

Singh, M.P., K. Cassida. 2019, June 28. Agronomic guidelines for late planted silage corn. Available at https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/agronomic-guidelines-for-late-planted-silage-corn

Telenko, D.E.P., M.I. Chilvers, N. Kleczewski, D.L. Smith, A.M. Byrne, P. Devillez, T. Diallo, R. Higgins, D. Joos, K. Kohn, J. Lauer, B. Mueller, M.P. Singh, W.D. Widdicombe, and L. Williams. 2019. How tar spot of corn impacted hybrid yields during the 2018 Midwest epidemic. Available athttps://cropprotectionnetwork.org/resources/features/how-tar-spot-of-corn-impacted-hybrid-yields-during-the-2018-midwest-epidemic. doi.org/10.31274/cpn-20190729-002

 Lindsey, A.; Thomison, P.; Reese, K.; Geyer, A.; Ritchie, A.; Banks, S.; Ogando do Granja, M. (2019). Does narrow-row corn production influence plants’ response to foliar inputs? Crop, Forage and Turfgrass Management, 5 (1), 1-7. https://doi.org/10.2134/cftm2019.05.0039