1997 Corn Performance Tests

Edited by Anton E. Coy, J. LaDon Day, and Paul L. Raymer

The Season

The 1997 corn acreage of 550,000 acres represented a 5% decrease from Georgia's 1996 corn acreage. Favorable planting conditions and a long cool spring were beneficial for corn production, although late season disease problems were prevalent. Rust affected many fields and hybrids and was most severe in irrigated fields. As a result, yields from irrigated acreage were lower than originally projected.

Seasonal rainfall amounts for the six testing sites are listed in the table below. Although February through September rainfall totals were below normal at most locations, June and July rains were timely and ensured a good production season. Growing Season Rainfall¹, 1997 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Month Blairsville Calhoun² Griffin Midville Plains Tifton -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------inches------------------------------- February 5.45 6.30 9.23 5.36 6.41 5.60 March 5.37 3.54 0.74 1.78 0.56 2.14 April 5.44 4.49 6.63 4.26 5.59 4.14 May 4.43 5.48 4.50 2.13 4.35 2.24 June 3.05 7.39 4.28 4.96 3.79 1.96 July 2.98 3.71 4.96 4.37 6.26 1.85 August 1.41 1.75 0.98 1.71 1.15 1.04 September 6.29 6.09 8.33 6.02 3.34 5.51 Total (8 mo) 34.42 38.75 39.65 30.59 31.45 24.48 Normal (8 mo) 38.53 37.14 35.88 34.70 34.71 35.28 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Data submitted by Dr. G. Hoogenboom, Georgia Station, Griffin, GA. 2. Floyd County location. Weather at harvest was excellent and harvest proceeded about a week ahead of normal. Yields from the 500,000 acres harvested for grain averaged a record 110 bushels per acre.