Mar. 21, 2013 — As escalating corn prices have encouraged many
farmers to switch to growing corn continuously, they wonder why
they have been seeing unusually high yield reductions over the
past several years. The University of Illinois conducted a six-
year study that identified three key factors affecting yield in
continuous corn (CC) systems. "Prior to this study, the most
common management recommendations for continuous corn production
were to apply an additional 45 pounds of nitrogen per acre and
reserve your best crop land for it," said U of I soil scientist
and lead author Laura Gentry. "Very little was known about the
agents or mechanisms causing reduced yields in continuous corn
systems." Although corn can be cropped continuously, it is
widely accepted that there is a yield reduction compared to corn
rotated with soybean (CS). This difference is referred to as the
continuous corn yield penalty (CCYP), which is generally in the
range of 20 to 30 bushels per acre. The 2012 growing season
marked the thir