While Griggs Farms LLC has been conducting variety trials for Pioneer and University of Tennessee Extension for years, we began conducting our own field trials in 2016 comparing farming practices, fertilizer rates, and different products. All of our trials have multiple replications and are as scientific as possible. Our goal is to determine which practices, rates, and products will increase yield or provide the greatest return on investment. Be sure to check back each year to see our most current research!
***PLEASE USE GOOGLE CHROME TO VIEW. Data does not display properly on some mobile and desktop browsers!***
***PLEASE USE GOOGLE CHROME TO VIEW. Data does not display properly on some mobile and desktop browsers!***
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Adaptive Management Trials: No Till vs Cover Crop
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No Till: Measured infiltration of 2"/hr first
inch, 2nd inch would not soak in.
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Cover Crop: Measured infiltration of 62"/hr first inch, 12"/hr second inch
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No Till Plot is on the left, Cover Crop Plot is on the right
I will have data showing the differences in soil tests and microbial life when I get it organized.
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Corn Nitrogen Plots: Cover Crops vs No TillWith our adoption of high yielding crops and high biomass cover crops, Nitrogen management in corn has become a crucial factor in preventing yield loss due to Nitrogen immobilization. I learned form my 2016 Adaptive Management Corn Plot, that Nitrogen timing was crucial in corn with high residue levels. In 2017, I experimented with different rates on cover crop plots and no till plots. I also adjusted my nitrogen timing to provide more nitrogen earlier in the season to the corn crop. The results show that currently, my soils and soil health are not yet to the point to where I can begin reducing Nitrogen on my corn crops while still maintaining yield.
2017 Corn Nitrogen Plot Results |
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Utrisha N Biological TrialsWe are a big believer in the potential of biologicals in supplementing or replacing the need for synthetic products in agriculture. Utrisha N is a biological product from Corteva that adds nitrogen producing bacteria to the crop that live in a symbiotic relationship with the crop to supplement the crops nitrogen needs.
2020 Corn Utrisha Trial 2023 Corn Utrisha Trial 2023 Cotton Utrisha Trial |
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Corn with Interplanted Soybeans Trials In 2015, we had the pleasure of visiting Dave Brandt's farm in Carrol Ohio. Dave Brandt has been a pioneer for the use of cover crops and using nature's properties to produce profitable crops at a low cost while improving the soil, water, and environment. One of the practices he was experimenting with was planting soybeans in the middles of the corn rows. The theory is that soybeans have the ability to provide free nitrogen to the growing corn crop, possibly allowing producers to reduce the amounts of nitrogen that they apply to their corn crop. In 2016 and 2017, we decided to try this on our farm to see if this was possible by measuring yield and taking tissue tests in replicated trials. In 2016 we saw a positive 5 bushel yield response in a very low yield situation due to drought. In 2017, we saw a slight negative yield response to interplanted soybeans in a high yield situation. However, due to a mistake at sidedress, a very high rate (280 lbs) of nitrogen was applied, severely burning and killing most of the soybeans, and eliminating the ability of the soybeans that were left to produce any meaningful nitrogen. In neither one of the years, we have not been able to measure an increase in nitrogen concentration in the tissue tests. We believe that supplemental nitrogen applications limit the ability of soybeans to produce their own nitrogen. We believe that any yield increase may be due to a symbiotic effect of the corn and soybeans coexisting together rather than the soybeans providing nitrogen to the corn crop. At this time, we feel that this practice merits further testing but is not a practice that we can yet recommend other producers try on a large scale. 2016 Soybean Interplanted into Corn Trial Results 2017 Soybean Interplanted into Corn Trial Results 2018 Soybean Interplanted into Corn Trial Results 2019 Soybean Interplanted into Corn Trial Results |
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MicroNoc Soil Health Innoculant Trials
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Tissue Testing DataOver the last several years, we have been fortunate enough to hear multiple time NCGA Corn Yield Champion Randy Dowdy speak. While he makes many great points about how to grow very high yielding crops, one of the points that stuck with us was that if you want to grow high yielding crops, you need to give the plant the "groceries" it needs to produce. For decades, farmers have relied on traditional soil tests to determine how much fertilizer they need to apply to reach a certain yield goal. But how much of that fertilizer is actually being taken up and utilized by the crop? How much money have farmers wasted or lost by over fertilizing or under fertilizing their crops? One tool to determine this is to take a plant tissue sample and have it analyzed. But Randy Dowdy brought up a great point about a problem with tissue testing. When a farmer gets the results of a tissue test back, it lists the percentage or parts per million concentration of different nutrients in the plant and then says if a particular nutrient is deficient, adequate, or excessive within the plant. But the question is, if a nutrient is adequate, what yield level is it adequate for? The nutrient concentration may be adequate for 150 bushel corn but deficient for 250 bushel corn. A tissue test does not take into account the yield goal of a crop. So a few years ago, Randy Dowdy began building his own database of tissue levels at different points in the field and then measuring the yield at these points. In 2017, we decided to do the same thing and began to build our own database of tissue test levels and the corresponding yield. At the beginning of the season, we marked GPS coordinates in each field. We then pulled samples from about a 20 foot radius around these points either every week or every other week throughout the growing season. After harvest, we determined the yield of these points by using our agronomic software, AgStudio, to measure the yield at these points off of our calibrated yield maps. In 2018, we also pulled soil samples from these points to see how the results corresponded to the tissue levels. Our hope is that in the future, we can use this data to determine what yield we can achieve based on our tissue levels and determine if we're wasting money on fertilizer by applying too much, or losing yield by not applying enough. ***PLEASE USE GOOGLE CHROME TO VIEW DATA*** Data does not display properly on some mobile and desktop browsers. Five Year Corn Tissue Test Data Four Year Cotton Tissue Test Data Five Year Soybean Tissue Test Data 2017 Corn Tissue Test Results 2017 Cotton Tissue Test Results 2017 Soybean Tissue Test Results 2018 Corn Tissue Test Results 2018 Cotton Tissue Test Results 2018 Soybean Tissue Test Results 2019 Corn Tissue Test Results 2019 Cotton Tissue Test Results 2019 Soybean Tissue Test Results 2020 Corn Tissue Test Results 2020 Cotton Tissue Test Results 2020 Soybean Tissue Test Results 2021 Corn Tissue Test Data 2021 Soybean Tissue Test Data 2021 Cotton Tissue Test Data |
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Twin Row Corn Trials
Griggs Farms LLC is a relatively small farming operation. Therefore we are limited in the amount of equipment we can purchase and the associated technology that goes along with that equipment.
One planter is all that is needed to cover the land we farm. However since we plant corn, soybeans, and cotton with the same planter, we must make compromises on row spacing. Cotton works well on 38" rows. Soybeans usually do best on narrow rows such as 15", 19", or 20". In our area, corn grown on 30" rows has the most benefits. Currently we use a Kinze 3600 12/23 row planter set up on 38" rows with splitters to plant soybeans on 19" rows. Currently, we are limited in how high of a corn population we can plant due to wide rows. In 2017, we decided to try some twin row corn on 38" middles to see if we could pick up extra yield by bumping up the population while still allowing for more space between individual plants. Since we are on RTK, we planted strips like we normally would but at about 55% or our normal population. We then nudged the guidance line over 7.5" and doubled back over those passes with another 55% of normal population. We replicated the strips 7 times. While we did see a small yield increase, it was not enough to offset the extra seed and planting pass. We probably will continue to test this practice though. 2017 Twin Row Corn Trial Results 2018 Twin Row Corn Trial Results |
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Soybean Planting Speed Trial
We all know that corn yield increases with extremely precise seed placement and spacing. In 2019, we decided to see if soybeans would benefit from the same precision. Using a Kinze 3600 with brush meters and a 60 cell soybean plate, our normal planting speed is 6-6.5 mph. For this trial we replicated multiple plots comparig our normal planting speed to plots that were planted at 2 mph in order to try to get extremely precise spacing in between the seed. While the 2 mph plots resulted in a picket fence stand, there was virtually no difference in yield.
2019 Soybean Planting Speed Trial Results |
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Fungicide Trials
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In addition to agronomic practices, we try to dedicate time to researching different crop protection products to determine if they provide a positive ROI. Many retailers and agronomists push hard for a fungicide to be applied to your crop at specific stages, We decided to start testing it this year.
2018 Wheat Fungicide Plot Results 2023 Wheat Feekes 6 Fungicide Plot Results |
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Strip Spraying Trials
We have been strip spraying for several years now 2 months prior to planting our cotton into high biomass cover crops and have seen excellent results in the ease of seed placement. However, corn can be a lot more sensitive during establishment and we decided to see if having a clean strip to plant into would boost corn yield by minimizing any negative effects of the cover crop on establishing corn. So a little over a month before corn planting, we banded glyphosate with our hooded sprayer in a 8 inch wide band to terminate the cover crop in the row. About a month after termination, we planted directly into the killed strips. Results are promising. 2020 Corn Strip Kill Plot Results |