WTOL.com, Toledo's News Leader, News 11 | EcoTrack 11: Scientists work to increase Northwest Ohio's corn crop
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By Chris Vickers - email | bio
Posted by Nick Dutton - email
TOLEDO, Ohio (WTOL) - The wet and cooler weather has Northwest Ohio's fall corn harvest behind schedule. It's interesting to note, therefore, that scientists are working to improve crops so they can better handle a variety of weather conditions.
Regional Agronomist Andy Westhoven says corn grows best in warm and sunny conditions. This Fall, that type of weather was scarce.
Westhoven works to find ways to increase crop yields and says test plots are different from other fields, because they use a variety of hybrid crops. He hopes these crops will be better suited for a variety of weather conditions.
Test plot results could help future research. "Here we are testing each individual hybrid. We take the weight of the whole grain sample and... take a small sample to look at test weight and grain moisture," said Westhoven. "It's basically looking at new and better things to see what we can improve in our own line-up. So just again bring forward to try and find the best hybrid for a certain area."
A crop with a better yield is important in such an unpredictable business. For growers, every season has its unique challenges.
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