Is it Time to Revisit Seeding Populations?

A few weeks ago, we noted that higher corn plant populations have been the biggest source of trendline yield gains. This makes intuitive sense but doesn’t align with recent plant population trends, which reveal a plateau.

Since the 1980s, Iowa corn plant populations have increased by nearly 300 plants per acre annually. But in recent years, the measure has been mostly sideways. When considering the pace of ten-year segments, Iowa plant populations increased by more than 400 plants annually betwee