- Author: Michelle Leinfelder-Miles
The UC Cooperative Extension Delta Corn and Sorghum Field Meeting will take place on Wednesday, October 11, 2017, from 10:00am to noon, on Tyler Island in Sacramento County. The agenda is pasted below and attached. The attached version includes a map and directions to the field site. We have applied for CCA continuing education credits, and light refreshments will be provided. RSVP is not required. Hope to see you in the field!
Agenda:
10:00am Field corn variety evaluation – preliminary results, Michelle Leinfelder-Miles, UCCE, SJC/Delta
10:15am Variety traits for the Delta, Seed company representatives
10:30am Sorghum seeding rates for optimum productivity – preliminary results, Michelle Leinfelder-Miles, UCCE, SJC/Delta
10:45am Determining food availability for wintering waterfowl in Central Valley agricultural fields, Luke Matthews and John Eadie, UC Davis
11:00am Viewing of field plots
Meeting Agenda
- Author: Michelle Leinfelder-Miles
On Friday, January 6th, I hosted the annual SJC and Delta Field Crops Meeting in Stockton, CA. The presentations from that meeting have now been posted to my website and are available here. Also available from my website are full reports of local research trials, including the Delta sorghum seeding rate trial and field corn variety trial.
UC statewide specialists make their research results available through the Agronomy Research and Information Center (RIC) website. At the meeting, we had presentations that referenced the sorghum website and the variety selection tool for small grains, which are products of UC statewide programs.
We hope you will find this information useful, and we hope you will share your feedback with us so that we may best serve your research and outreach interests.
- Author: Michelle Leinfelder-Miles
Table 1 shows the results of the 2016 UCCE Delta field corn variety trial, located on Tyler Island. Three replicate blocks of eighteen varieties were planted on April 27th by air planter. The eighteen varieties included 16 varieties submitted by seed companies and two varieties submitted by the grower. All varieties supplied by the seed companies were glyphosate-tolerant varieties. Each plot consisted of four 30-inch beds on an average row length of 1158 feet. Seed was planted approximately two inches deep and six inches apart down the row. The soil is a Rindge mucky silt loam with approximately 20 percent organic matter in the top 15 inches of soil. The Rindge series is a mucky peat soil down to about 60 inches, and approximately 55,600 acres in the Delta are described by the Rindge classification. The previous crop in the field was wheat. Subsurface irrigation by “spud ditch” was employed three times. Nitrogen was applied preplant (125 units/acre as NH3), and 34 gallons/acre of 8-24-6 with ½% of zinc was knifed in at planting. Weed control was by cultivation and herbicide application (Steadfast, Shark, and No Foam A adjuvant). Zeal miticide was applied. The field was harvested on October 10th.
The table presents mean values for the three replicates. When interpreting the results, keep the following in mind. The mean is equal to the sum of values divided by the number of values, in this case, three replicates. The statistical method used to compare the means, called Tukey's range test, compares all means against each other. Varieties were considered statistically different if their P value was less than 0.05, or 5 percent. What this means is that when differences between varieties exist, we are 95% certain that the two varieties are actually different; the results are not due to random chance. Differences between varieties are indicated by different letters following the mean. For example, a variety that has only the letter “a” after the mean yield value is different from a variety that is followed by only the letter “b”, but it is not different from a variety whose mean value is followed by both letters (“ab”). Similarly, a variety whose mean yield is followed by the letters “ab” is not different from a variety whose mean yield is followed by the letters “bc”. Seven varieties have a letter “a” following their mean yield, which means that those seven varieties all performed similarly in the trial. The numerical values of these seven varieties differ, but based on this research, we cannot attribute those numerical differences to variety differences. Among varieties, there were also differences in stand count, bloom date, fusarium ear rot presence, ear height, grain moisture, and bushel weight.
The CV, or coefficient of variation, is the standard deviation divided by the mean, or a measure of variability in relation to the mean. For some measures, particularly the disease percentage, the variability between the three replicates was very high.
Special thanks go to grower cooperators, Steve and Gary Mello, and participating seed companies. The report is available in an easy-to-print version from my website.
- Author: Michelle Leinfelder-Miles
The annual Delta field meeting will be held on Tuesday, October 4th starting at 10:00am. This year, the agenda includes topics on both field corn and sorghum. The meeting location is at the UCCE field corn variety trial plot off of Brunk Road on Tyler Island. Please see the attached flyer for more information. The agenda is as follows:
Agenda
10:00am Field corn variety evaluation – preliminary results
10:15am Variety traits for the Delta
10:30am Sorghum seeding rates for optimum productivity – preliminary results
10:45am Viewing of field plots
We have requested CCA continuing education credits; light refreshments will be provided. Please contact Michelle Leinfelder-Miles, Delta farm advisor (209-953-6100) with questions.
2016 UCCE Corn and Sorghum Field Meeting Agenda
- Author: Michelle Leinfelder-Miles
The 2016 UCCE grain corn variety trial was planted on April 27th. The trial is located in the Delta on Tyler Island. Three replicate blocks of eighteen varieties were planted by air planter. The eighteen varieties included 16 varieties submitted by seed companies and two varieties submitted by the grower, which are presented in Table 1. Each replicate consists of four 30-inch beds on an average row length of about 1200 feet. Seed was planted two inches deep and six inches apart down the row, for an approximate planting density of 35,000 seeds per acre. The soil is a Rindge mucky silt loam with approximately 20 percent organic matter in the top 15 inches of soil. Approximately 55,600 acres in the Delta are described by the Rindge classification. Over the course of the season, we will evaluate the following parameters: stand count, days to bloom, fusarium ear rot, head smut, common smut, lodging, ear height, yield, and grain moisture at yield. Don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions about the trial, and stay tuned to this blog for trial results at the end of the season.
Table 1. Field corn varieties planted in the 2016 UCCE field corn variety trial.
Brand Initials |
Variety Number |
Brand Name |
Submitted by |
CP |
6525VT3P/RIB |
Croplan |
Stanislaus Farm Supply |
CP |
7087VT2P/RIB |
Croplan |
Stanislaus Farm Supply |
DKC |
62-08RIB |
DeKalb |
Monsanto/Ag Seeds |
DKC |
63-07 |
DeKalb |
Grower |
DKC |
63-71 |
DeKalb |
Monsanto |
ES |
7514VT2P |
Eureka Seeds |
AgReliant Genetics |
ES |
7667VT2P |
Eureka Seeds |
AgReliant Genetics |
G |
6708VT2P |
Golden Acres |
AgReliant Genetics |
G |
7601VT2P |
Golden Acres |
AgReliant Genetics |
INT |
6612GSS |
Integra |
Wilbur Ellis |
INT |
6474DGVT2PRORIB |
Integra |
Wilbur Ellis |
LG |
5701VT2P |
LG Seeds |
AgReliant Genetics |
LG |
5622VT2P |
LG Seeds |
AgReliant Genetics |
P |
31N27 |
Pioneer |
Grower |
SX |
5543RR |
Baglietto Seeds |
Baglietto Seeds |
TGY |
8156GT |
Tech Ag |
Lyman Ag Group |