CROP SCENE INVESTIGATION – 29: The curious case of row unit number eight

by BERNARD TOBIN

In late June, when Pioneer Hi-Bred agronomist Scott Fife walked across Bill’s 20-acre corn field in Dundas County, one in every 12 rows was significantly stunted. While all the corn had reached the eight-leaf stage, the stunted rows were much shorter and yellow in colour – very different from 
the dark green, healthy-looking plants in the other rows.

“There were no obvious nutrient deficiencies with the corn – no zinc, manganese, potash or phosphorous issues. It just didn’t look good. It had to be a planter problem,” thought Fife. He quickly made note that the poor performance was confined to the same row across the field, which was always planted by the eighth row unit on Bill’s 12-row planter.

Better Farming - December 2010