b'growers reaching 300 bushels per acreRotation as a Competitive in growing contests. In the Corn Belt, itsAdvantageabout 175180. Disease pressures are met in the south by using a standard rotation of corn with Planting Early or Plantingcotton and soybean, which are non-host Something Else crops for corn diseases. These three Part of achieving high yields in southerncrops all do well and have been grown for corn is using practices that work. decades in the south.The growers are doing a lot better jobIn contrast, some farmers in the Corn these days managing the crop, LarsonBelt grow corn every year for 20 or says. In the south, we may intend to30 years in the same fields. As Larson plant X acreage but we may only be ablenotes, rotation not only increases yield by to actually plant half of that due to wetreducing disease pressure but also helpsNick Chammoun, agronomist withspring conditions. If they cant plant bymanage weed pressures that naturallyCNI Ag in Leesburg, Georgia, works early April, growers generally swap in soy- accumulate in monoculture systems. closely with southern growers to beans or cotton. Hajovsky reports that some growers inmatch hybrids with heat, humidityTo have their best chance at earlythe Rio Grande Valley in Texas and otherand disease pressure common across planting, growers use a stale seed bedareas in Texas and Georgia double-cropthe region. system where almost all primary tillagecorn, which works very well unless theres is done in the fall. A herbicide burndowna Halloween frost.in the spring and the use of raised bed furrow systems rather than unpreparedBelow: These states represent the Southern flat ground help alleviate soil saturationCorn Belt, where corn production is spread and allow irrigation. across diverse climates and management systems beyond the traditional Midwest.FEBRUARY 2026SEEDWORLD.COM /37'