“The closer to harvest that you make your estimates, the more accurate they’ll be,” says Steve Hyronimus, Mycogen Seeds District Agronomist.

Randy Fortenbery, Associate Professor of Agricultural and Applied Economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, notes that the best grain prices are usually offered pre-harvest. “By doing a good job estimating your yields, you ensure that as you increase your price protection, you don’t increase your production risk by selling more to the market than you can deliver,” says Fortenbery.

There are several ways to estimate yields in grain corn. Hyronimus recommends using the formula developed by the University of Illinois. “It’s a relatively easy way to get a ballpark yield estimate,” he says. The formula uses a numerical constant for kernel weight. Since weight per kernel will vary depending on the hybrid and environmental conditions, the yield estimation should only be used to estimate relative grain yield. This method is a good way to estimate yield prior to physiological maturity.

Step 1 - Count the number of harvestable ears per 1/1000th of an acre.

Step 2 - Count the number of kernel rows per ear on every fifth ear. Calculate the average.

Step 3 - Count the number of kernels per row on each of same ears, but do not count kernels on either the butt or tip that are less than half size. Calculate the average.

Step 4 - Place the above information into the following equation: (Ear number) x (Row number) x (Kernel number) / 90

“It’s important to remember that the yield estimation and the final yield may be different. For the best results, it’s important to sample 1/1000th of an acre for every five acres in the field,” says Hyronimus.

Mycogen Seeds is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Company and is an affiliate of Dow AgroSciences LLC. Mycogen Seeds is the leader in Silage-Specific™ corn, the largest sunflower seed producer, and a leading producer of seed corn, alfalfa, soybeans and sorghum. For more information on Mycogen Seeds, go to www.mycogen.com on the Internet.

Contact Information
Name: Greg Cannon
Phone: 317-337-7568
Email: [email protected]

Name: Bruce Herz
Phone: 262-938-5447
Email: [email protected]