While two graduate students at the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign Crop Physiology Lab won the title of 2024 Yield Odyssey Champion, there were five others who won something else — knowledge.
“There’s so much work done in season, very rarely do you get time to look at the data because you’re just collecting, collecting, collecting. This time of year is when computers are processing the data. You get to see the eyes go wide, and the epiphany moments where the research students say, ‘That’s why we did all this, and this is what it resulted in,’” said Dr. Connor Sible, a research assistant professor at UIUC Crop Sciences.
The projects done by the students of the UIUC Crop Physiology Lab ranged from studying hybrids and root structures to exploring how to improve fertilizer use efficiency and just about everything in between.
Check out this year’s Yield Odyssey projects and see what they discovered during the 2024 season:
Sam Leskanich, PhD Student
Overview: Leskanich sought to understand corn root architecture and how the surface area, angle and mass (SAAM), can affect a hybrid’s response to management practices. For this study, he evaluated eight hybrids at three planting populations and varying nitrogen supplies including a reduced rate, a full preplant rate, and a split application at preplant and V6.
“We might know that hybrids have different root architecture, but to a farmer, what’s that mean? What I wanted to do is look at how we can manage hybrids differently based on the root architecture,” said Leskanich.
Discovery: Ultimately, Leskanish’s study found that hybrids with a narrow root angle yielded greater than those with a wide root angle under low nitrogen conditions and showed greater responsiveness to increased plant densities.
Dalton Knerrer, MS Student
Overview: Knerrer’s research focused on residue management in continuous corn and double-crop soybean systems. For this study, he applied different combinations of residue-degrading biologicals, nitrogen sources, and sulfur sources to enhance residue decomposition and nutrient release to benefit yields.
Discovery: Overall, Knerrer’s research demonstrated that residue decomposition can be enhanced by the combinations of residue-degrading biologicals, nitrogen and sulfur sources that were applied. While yield penalties associated with the residue were significantly reduced, they were not entirely eliminated, leaving the door open for future research.
“I learned that there’s always more to learn,” Knerrer said.
Miranda Ochs, MS Student
Overview: For this study, Ochs researched how pairing corn hybrids with different management practices can maximize yield potential. Specifically, she looked at how 36 different corn hybrids across the state of Illinois performed under varying planting densities, row spacings, fertility levels and fungicide applications.
Discovery: “The study demonstrated that hybrid selection is a big piece of seeing a benefit from these management practices,” said Ochs. “Pairing fertility and foliar protection together is also very beneficial, especially if you can apply a fungicide twice.”
In the 2024 study, Ochs found that combining broadcast fertility and foliar protection increases yield more than either practice on its own. She also observed an additional 2-to-10 bu/ac yield increase when a fungicide was sprayed at both VT and R3, compared to hybrids that only received a fungicide application at VT.
Planting density was another practice that affected yields in the 2024 study. Hybrids planted at a higher density averaged 10 bu/ac higher yield than those planted at a lower density. This was a departure from the previous two year’s studies, where there was no difference in planting density. Ochs suspects this could be due to the wetter planting season compared to the drier 2022 and 2023 seasons.
Gabriela Frigo Fernandes, MS Student
Overview: Fernandes’ research focused on how the 4Rs — the Right Source, Right Rate, Right Placement, and Right Timing of fertilizer applications — interact to optimize nutrient availability and yield response to fertilizer. Specifically, she studied the differences between the novel placement of in-season, dry-drop fertilizer application at the V6 growth stage, with the conventional broadcast application, using both liquid and dry fertilizer sources for potassium and phosphorous.
Discovery: Through the study, Fernandes found that “Right Placement” of fertilizer plays an important role in nutrient availability.
“Placing fertilizer actually increases a lot of nutrient availability into the soil for the plants in season, so we saw that wherever we placed fertilizer, we actually increased the availability for the plants,” said Fernandes. “We moved phosphorus about 10 inches deep.”
Overall, the results from the past two years of Fernandes’ study show that dry-drop is a comparable placement option for fertilizer applications. This suggests that dry-drop could be an alternative to the conventional broadcast approach, providing a greater window of opportunity for farmers to supply their fertility during the growing season.
Ava Isaacs, MS Student
Overview: Isaac’s research focused on how biologicals, including BioPathÒ influence soybean yields and if responses are management- or environment-specific. In this first year of the study, Isaacs tested 10 unique biological products in low- and high-management systems with two different varieties across three locations in Illinois.
Discovery: Initial findings from Isaac’s study demonstrate that biological products improve soil nitrogen availability and sites with lower organic matter without influencing nodule development. While yield results varied across environments and management systems, the biologicals studied showed a more positive trend at sites with higher inherent fertility.
“The study shows that there’s a potential for biologicals to improve soybean yield,” said Isaacs. “However, there’s still a lot to learn about how to fully optimize biological product use in different management, variety and environment combinations.”
Revisit this year’s Yield Odyssey below:
The 2024 University of Illinois Yield Odyssey: Part 1
