Exploring the Potential of Short Corn in Tennessee
The difference in corn hybrids height, (left) traditional and (right) short corn hybrids.
What could shorter corn mean for Tennessee farmers? Researchers with the University of Tennessee are working to find out.
With support from the Tennessee Corn Promotion Board, UT researchers are evaluating short-statured corn hybrids to better understand how they perform under Tennessee growing conditions. These hybrids are approximately two feet shorter than traditional corn and offer potential advantages, including improved resistance to lodging and green snap due to straight-line winds and the ability to use spray equipment for crop protection applications mid-season.
Research conducted at the UT Research and Education Centers in Milan and Jackson is examining how these hybrids respond to irrigation, seeding rates, and nitrogen management. Early results are encouraging, but researchers are also identifying important questions that need further study before short-statured corn can be considered for broader use in Tennessee.
We caught up with researchers, Dr. Avat Shekoofa and Dr. Jake McNeal, to learn more about what this research could mean for Tennessee Farmers:
Q: What makes this research particularly relevant to Tennessee producers?
A: This work is especially relevant because it tests newly commercialized short-statured corn hybrids under Tennessee conditions and management questions Tennessee farmers actually face, namely water management (irrigated vs. rainfed), seeding rate, and nitrogen timing. The trials were run at two UT AgResearch and Education Center locations in Tennessee (Milan/MREC and Jackson/WTREC) under sensor-based irrigation and rainfed production, which makes the results more directly applicable to Tennessee fields than data from the Midwest alone.
Q: What potential do you see for short-statured corn in Tennessee, and what needs to be learned before farmers could consider adopting it?
A: Potential advantages for short-statured corn:
Tennessee corn is mostly rainfed, and the data show short corn hybrids yielded well under both rainfed and irrigated conditions
Operational flexibility - shorter plants can allow ground rigs to spray later into the season
Standability - in these UT trials, short corn appeared more stable and resistant to lodging
What still needs to be learned before adoption decisions:
Regionally adapted hybrid selection - well-adapted hybrids for the Mid-South/Southeast are not fully established yet
Best seeding rate/row spacing packages - short corn appeared sensitive to seeding rate, with the publication highlighting 42,000 as a key point needing more exploration across environments
Nitrogen management and grain quality under stress - more work needs to be done to evaluate physical/chemical grain quality under water limitation and nitrogen programs to understand nutrient responses during drought-like scenarios
Harvest logistics (ear height) - ear placement was 2–3 feet; lower ears created harvest challenges (lower header, slower harvest, more time)
Q: What did you learn from these trials that you think Tennessee farmers will find most interesting?
A: Two takeaways stand out:
Yield response to irrigation vs. rainfed in Tennessee locations:
Traditional hybrid: 232 bu/a irrigated vs. 215 bu/a rainfed
Short corn at Milan (MREC): 152 bu/a irrigated vs. 134 bu/a rainfed
Short corn at Jackson (WTREC): 175 bu/a irrigated vs. 152 bu/a rainfed
Management “signals” are worth following up. Even when not statistically significant, the study reports trends suggesting:
42,000 seeding rate numerically led other rates by at least 7.7 bu/a
Split N (V6 + V12) was numerically 10 bu/a greater than all N at V6 combined, with the lodging/standability observations and the ear-height harvest
For more information, view the publication of this research project: