Tips for growing corn

I have grown beans for the last couple years. I am only 2 counties over from where my grain ground has been in the past and will be planting about 150 acres of corn into sod (no tilling it). Like I said I have grown beans the last couple years and this will be my first year planting corn. I will be using a 6 row JD 7000 planter on 30 inch centers to plant with. I am a little nervous as I have never done it before but can you guys give me the knowledge you have on growing corn in general. Products you would use to burn down sod? Can you use sharpen? How soon after planting to spray and fert? What should I spray as far as more roundup, pesticides, fungicides? Then after that it will be on to combining my first time lol. I am 22 and in the central ky region. Any help or info you guys can give would be great. Thank You

Spray it with Roundup or Generic Roundup 2qt rate tomorrow! Would have been better last fall. Seriously spray it as soon as possible. Spred your fertilizer as soon as you can 250 lb 18-46-0 and 250 lb of 0-0-60 If you don't get to plant till May, Spray again with RR plus 24D Buy good seed! all the packages! Don't buy a Race Horse no. Ask a successful farmer dealer what seed number they would use. Plant at least 26000 seeds per acre. Always Knife in your Nitrogen Anhydrous Deep 120 lb actual, when the corn is 6 in to 1 ft high. Spray it again with RR and a residual herbicide.If you don't have enough Horse Power, just do every other middle, or 60 in centers. so 3 knives for 6 rows.You can find those old tool bars for $500 or rent one from your fert dealer. Or hire it done. Don't let anyone talk you out of knifing in your Nitrogen.

Go to your nearest county extention agent and ask him. He knows your soil and can get you in the right path. I would personally go into sod with beans the first year or 2 to mellow the soil out and then corn. I raised 54 bushel to the acre beans last year no tilling sod from a pasture that's been grass for the last 45 years. Granted that was dryland and had mother natures help. If you go in with corn buy a good rr hybred and put your dry fertelizers(phos. etc) down and liquid n on before or right after planting seeing how your no tilling it. You can mix in a chemical to surpress the grass and weeds with the liquid n. and then plan on at least 2 more roundup sprayings depending on how the grass and weeds come back. Good luck.

And as Vic said get roundup on when it starts greening up. I don't know how much rain you get down there but 26000 pop sounds like an irrigated stand. I usually go 17500-18500 on dryland and 27500 to28500 on irrigated. We have a lot of miles from Nebraska to Kentucky so things are bound to be different for each of us.

Im north of you in southern Indiana and usually spray with 24d and round up as a burn down first of april and try to plant between april 15-20th (even earlier for plowed ground) then when the corn starts turning yellow sidedress with 120-150 lb. for N in the form of 28% with a five shank applicator from your local co-op. the only thing is with you have liquid fertilizer tanks on your planter (like we do) then you should put 15-16 gal. of 10-34-0 or 3-18-18-or 9-18-9 or something like that will help your corn out tremendously! dont know what size tractor you have but figure on at least 60 hp in no-till

God Bless
Cort B. Lamey

I am running a JD 4430, I had a 8 row 7000 with splitters last year. Thanks for the helpful tips guys.

that should do just fine hp wise we run our six row loaded with 300 gal of liquid and full of seed in hills with an AC 200 and used to do it with an AC 180 untill we sold it

here in southern ind ,60-60- 130 will get you in the 125 -150 bu yield , soil test and get recommendations for desired yield... over last 20 yrs, we have steadily incresed seed pops from 24 k to 32 k in 30 inch rows,, lot of factors to consider ,, poor clay dry ground needs higher seed pop to increse the probability of more ears,, and above all ,you must get rain when you need it ..

forgot to mention a population rate we try to run about 27700 to 30000

If I was you I'd consider planting the corn on the bean ground and plant RR beans in the sod. There is a bunch of nitrogen in that bean ground waiting for a crop of corn to utilize it.

These reccs are for the corn belt

1) Should have done the roundup last fall--awfully hard to kill sod in the spring

2) per #1, with $6 corn, I'd rip the sod up with tillage to get a good seedbed and slow down the sod. WAY WAY too much at risk this season--$1000 per acre possible gross this year. Too many chances for error no-tilling into sod not killed last fall

3) Make sure planter is in TIP TOP shape, and have trash whippers and seed firmers on the planter.

4) Use a RR hybrid with VT3 or similar stacked into it --lots of insects with sod, and protection later in the season as well. Order the best seed coating that's available--many insects in sod that will hollow out the kernal so it won't grow.

5) Drive 4.5 mph, plant THICK for your area

6) PLENTY of fertilizer, especially Nitrogen--split it--one application before planting, and a sidedress later

7) Don't be the first guy out planting in the spring--you want the ground warm so the seed won't have to struggle--sod is not very forgiving--even if ripped up it will re-establish and you want the seed to get started ASAP also.

8) "Ripping it up" won't totally kill it--the main goal here is a good seedbed--you will need to hit it with roundup again after planting.

I would get a soil map to find out what you are working with. Plenty of clay around me where even with today's seed technology it would be challenging to get 150 bu. per acre. It would be a good idea to check with FSA to see what conservation guidelines you need to follow in terms of any tillage performed. You are having to invest a lot to put this corn in to get it to grow 150 bu. per acre in a good year never mind if the growing season does not pan out. I would be doing a soil test as soon as it was dry enough to do (not muddy).
I am another person here who would not be in favor of putting corn on sod for a newbie unless you could count on somebody with experience (and success) to oversee this.
I think I would opt for corn on last year's bean ground and beans on the sod. I would like to see some degree of tillage where the sod was. Aerator or zone-till perhaps.

Contact your nearest extension agent for advice. Conditions such as PH ,soil types and natural fertility apply only to your farm , not to other areas of the country or other states. Never ever apply fetilizer without a good soil test to know what your soil needs. Applying fertilizer without a soil test is like adding oil to your tractor without first checking the dipstick.
Free advice is generally worth just what you paid for it, so go with the people at extension and the University of Ky. Good luck. Joe

Does the planter have the heavy duty no-till coulters? A big challenge will be getting it to stay in the ground. We had to add extra weight to the planter frame. We also put bags of sand in the insecticide boxes as were weren't using them for insecticide.

Take a grinder to the coulters and get them sharp.

and as others have said, but the sod down ASAP.

Good luck, Gene