Corn Question

I got a question for the corn experts on here. I planted 3 acres of nwtf RR corn and made a fine crop. It's gotten to be hard to find nwtf corn, and I'm not about to pay the price for new seed for a wildlife plot. Any chance I can save enough seed from this crop for planting next year and have it make decent? Of course, it would be strictly for wildlife and wouldn't be harvested and sold, so I think it's ok from a legal standpoint.

Back when I was in school they told us it wouldn't work on hybrid corn, but that was before the RR stuff became common. I doubt that the seed will produce a crop that had the same characteristics, but thought it worth asking. The variety I have is DeKalb 6006232.

Thanks for any help.

It will grow, but will carry traits of the variety parents rather than of the 6006232. That's what leads to inconsistency. But it'll grow, likely plenty good enough for wildlife.

I did that one year with NWTF corn and for whatever reason only got about half the germination rate that I did with new NWTF corn I'd bought that year

That's what I thought, but interesting that it will still make a decent crop. I wonder if both parents carry the RR gene? If they don't, I guess you would kill half the crop when you sprayed. Willyb, thanks for the first hand experience. Seems like it would be a risk to try it

Thanks for the replies and PMs I've gotten. I have a plan for next year that doesn't involve stealing corn from my turkeys. Aldeer is a great place!

PCP, the first year I planted corn mixed into my soybeans for deer, I bought a bag of #2 yellow and planted it. I sprayed the whole patch with Roundup at least twice that year. 95% of that corn was RR. It made corn, but the ears were small. Mostly nubbins.

That's what I was taught at Auburn in 1975. I thought that it might have reached the point now that all the parent varieties would produce decent crops, but based on replies to this thread it seems like the answer is that it's a risk that the parents might be no good at all. And then again, it might work fine.

It's so expensive to grow corn that it's not worth a big risk on seed.

Anything worth doing is worth doing right!

I would think you would have a problem planting since the seed kernels will be incosistent. Most seed corn is separated into round or flat kernels that may not be compatible with your seed plates. Broadcasting it wouldn't really matter. I have seen some "volunteer" corn emerge and make a decent ear from rr parent plants in soybean fields. Clemmons Hamner Seed sells open pollinated corn seed for $70 per 50lb bag. It isn't roundup ready but you can use Atrazine to kill weeds both preemergent and post emergent without damaging the corn and you can save seed year after year with no license conflict from anyone. Ried's yellow and Yellow Jarvis are a couple of good producers and both are tasty to eat as well.

http://www.clemmonshamnerseed.com/