If you’re going continuous corn next year on part of your farm, there are a few extra considerations to make your crop successful. We see farmers accept that continuous corn will yield less than corn in rotation with soybeans or another broadleaf crop….
That doesn’t have to be the case if you manage these three things well!
Fertility
Fertility is the key to winning with continuous corn. Specifically, nitrogen is the #1 nutrient to get right. Here’s why. Cornstalks from last year’s crop have a carbon to nitrogen ration of roughly 60:1. Your soil microbes need more nitrogen to help them break down the residue. This leads to nitrogen tie-up. To overcome that, 50+ extra pounds of nitrogen have made a big difference for many farmers.