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Twin Row Corn?

3K views 12 replies 9 participants last post by  cliffcutter 
#1 ·
I saw some twin row corn on a trip. What is the advantage of this and are any of you trying it? It looks like the plants are closer but the offset might give them more potential? Does it cause any feeding problems by hitting the chains or deck plates on the side?
 
#5 ·
Quote:I saw some twin row corn on a trip. What is the advantage of this and are any of you trying it? It looks like the plants are closer but the offset might give them more potential? Does it cause any feeding problems by hitting the chains or deck plates on the side?

We have used twin row corn and soybeans for five years now located in nw iowa.... last time did a check it was 7-8 bu. better on the corn plus u get faster canopy without having to change anything but your planter obviously... We have had problems with ears falling off but it seems like it depends alot on the hybrid also if you are short of nitrogen that will affect ears staying on...
 
#6 ·
One of my customers has been using twin row for the last 4 years now here in central Nebraska with good success. He is now using a strip till machine also to prepare the seedbed and put on fertilizer at different depths. His yields are doing very well on sandy loam type soil. Most of his corn is under pivots, but some is also gravity irrigated. He was the Monosem dealer, but several years ago he worked with our dealership to take it over because it was too much for him to take care of during planting season. We have sold 5 or 6 twin row planters in the last several years. Harvesting with a standard cornhead is no problem. My customer uses an 8 row wide head on his 8010 and gets along fine. Unfortunately this year just about everyone had alot of down corn and it was a real mess trying to harvest. He ended up using his MacDon draper to harvest the severely down corn that he just couldn't get under. The theory behind twin rows is to give each stalk more room for root growth to make a stronger healthier plant. It's not for everyone, but it sure is working for him.
 
#8 ·
My customer has the 2 rows spaced approx 7" apart, but the center of those rows to the center of the next 2 rows are spaced on 36" center to center which allows him to harvest with a conventional wide row spaced cornhead. He also has the seed meters on the planter timed so the seeds are somewhat in a staggerd formation.
 
#10 ·
We have been talking very seriously about switching to twin rows on 30 in spacing. I think it would help us with tonnage for silage. Can you still sideress anhydrous or is the spacing too close? I have heard that yields are not consistantly higher. One of the reasons is that each corn plant does not get enough sunlight. This is because there is a row only 7 inches away on one side and 23 inches on the other.
 
#11 ·
I got curious and found an Ia. State study from 2004 that found a 2.7 bpa advantage of twin-rows vs. 30" row corn.Is this enough to pay the extra cost in this specialized planter?Each of us has to do our own math on this one.I've only seen one cornfield planted to twinrows and there is a dealer in Hills Mn. promoting twinrows along with zone-till systems.

Back when 22" rows were starting to catch on,I did some figuring and found we'd be spending annually $10000 just to get $8500 back.Not cost effective for us.Moisture seems to be our most limiting factor for good yields.Most of the new planters we see are still 30" planters and this spring we'll even get to see a new JD 32 row 30" CCS planter in use not far from us.Planters are getting huge around here.
 
#12 ·
I picked corn in Spearman Texas that was what they called double row 40's. Two rows of corn in a 40" row. We used 6 row corn heads but they were 40" row spacings which was about the same width of an 8 row 30" spacings. It was alright for cutting but the only downside was it was like picking 12 rows of corn on a section pivot(mile long corn rows in the center) and it kept all the grain carts and trucks busy. Alot of sitting time. Slow speeds too.
 
#13 ·
For those who are interested,in the Feb. issue of Farm Journal Magazine there is a cover story "Twin Rows On Test". Magazine can be found online at www.agweb.com and click Farm Journal.

It looks like they are finding a moisture holding advantage in the tighter rows and yet a potential for disease problems due to reduced sunlight and limited air movement.

Every new system has it's quirks but we wouldn't have gotten very far in agriculture if no one had ever tried something different.There was a time when people planted corn in 40" rows (wide) and scoffed at the idea of 30" rows but "narrow" rows became commonplace.Now 30" rows seem "wide" in comparison to 20" and 22" rows.We've learned to never say never when considering new methods so maybe the twin row idea will catch on.
 
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