Introduction

Corn agronomy at the Department of Plant and Agroecosystem Sciences, UW—Madison marked the 52nd year of successful corn hybrid performance evaluation trials. Hybrid performance evaluation is critical to hybrid selection which is an important decision made by the growers. It is also crucial for delivering new technologies, pest resistance and increased yield benefit and profitability. The purpose of these trials is to provide unbiased performance comparisons of hybrid seed corn for grain and silage available in Wisconsin.

In 2024, grain and silage performance trials were planted at 12 locations in four production zones: the southern, south central, north central, and northern zones. The hybrids used were submitted by both seed companies and university researchers. Companies that participated in 2024 are listed in Table 1. The names of the hybrids and test location is provided in table 2. A summary of transgenic traits tested in 2024 is listed in Table 3. A summary of seed treatments performance is given in Table 4. At most locations, trials were classified as early- and late-maturity trials based on the hybrid relative maturities as listed by seed companies. The specific relative maturities separating early from late trials are listed in the tables.

Growing Season 2024 Summary

The growing season 2024 at most of the trial sites started with average temperatures closer to and rainfall higher than 30-year normal for Growing Degree Unit (GDU) accumulation and precipitation. Nonetheless, for most of the trials planting progress was ahead of the state average with ten out of 12 trials (>80%) planted by May 10. All trial plots were established by early May. Stand establishment was good to average with rainfall higher than the 30-year normal between April 20th to May 30th leading to some flooding and emergence issues. By mid- to late growing season, rainfall became more sporadic with July, August, and September receiving lower rainfall than 30-year normal for most of the state except in central Wisconsin. Overall, the accumulated rainfall for the entire growing season (April 20-October 31) was closer to 30-year normal. Disease and insect pressure were minimal at most trials, except for some reported incidence of tar spot and southern corn rust in Southern and Central Wisconsin. Trials at Hancock showed a very high incidence and severity of Tar spot, resulting in early season drying of the crop and lower than average moisture levels at harvest. Overall, good growing conditions continued into late-fall with a killing frost occurring in late October and the harvest being ahead of the state average.

Download a PDF of the trials below. For the results in Excel format, click here.