By Michelle Leinfelder-Miles
The 2017 UCCE grain corn variety trial was planted on May 9th, almost two weeks later than the trial was planted in 2016, due to the wet winter and spring. The trial is located in the Sacramento County Delta. Three replicate blocks of fifteen varieties were planted by air planter. This year, the varieties represent both conventional and RR varieties, as indicated in Table 1. Stand counts were made approximately two weeks after planting, and bloom was assessed over the week of July 10th. While bloom occurred later this year due to the later planting, the number of days to bloom was less than in 2016. Across all varieties, the average number of days to bloom was 65, compared to 70 in 2016. Over the remainder of the season, we will also evaluate disease pressure (fusarium ear rot, head smut, and common smut), lodging, ear height, grain moisture, and yield. Results from previous years are available from my website.
Table 1. Corn varieties planted in the 2017 UCCE grain corn variety trial.