How did Wisconsin corn fields rate for uniformity in 1998?
Forty-two Wisconsin corn fields were evaluated for stand uniformity in 1998. Seventeen of these fields were in Fond du Lac County. Once again, it is important to remember that an attempt was made to select fields and areas within fields with good emergence so that planter performance was the primary criteria being evaluated. A summary of the results is presented in Table 1. Of the 42 fields evaluated, 30 were planted with a finger pick-up type planter, 10 had some type of air system (vacuum or pressure), and 2 were plate planters. Thirty-five of the 42 fields were planted in 30-inch rows (others were either 36 or 38 inches) and planter size ranged from 4-row to 16-row. Stand uniformity (as measured by S.D.) ranged from a very commendable 1.9 inches to an undesirable 5.9 inches. There were large differences in both the number of doubles and gaps per 50 ft. of corn row between fields. On average, most of these producers were planting just over 30,000 seeds per acre and final stands avera
