2026 Entry Instructions for PA Commercial Hybrid Corn Program

Your company is encouraged to participate in the 2026 Pennsylvania Commercial Hybrid Corn Program. This program provides farmers, seed corn companies, and university personnel with information on the relative performance of corn hybrids grown under Pennsylvania conditions.  

Electronic copies will be available online. If you wish to receive a paper copy of the report, please let us know and we can mail one to you.

Corn grain test protocol

Objective:

To provide an unbiased source of information on corn hybrid performance in Pennsylvania to Pennsylvania corn producers and their advisors. All seed companies marketing in Pennsylvania are encouraged to participate. 

Maturity Zones:

Trials will be conducted within three maturity zones:

• Zone 1 – Early season hybrids - Relative maturity <100 days (1900 - 2399 GDD)
• Zone 2 – Early – mid season hybrids - Relative maturity 100-108 days (2400 - 2549 GDD)
• Zone 3 – Mid - late season hybrids - Relative maturity > 108 days (2550 - 2950 GDD)

Three locations will be planted within each Zone. Each location may have high or moderate fertility and various tillage practices. Hybrids will be assigned to the maturity zone based upon information given by the seed company. If past experience with a given hybrid indicated that it may be too early or too late for the zone requested, it may be placed in the proper maturity after consultation with the seed company. Each hybrid entered will be replicated 4 times at each location. Planting will be done with a precision vacuum planter targeting a seeding rate of 34,000 seeds per acre. A planter applied application of insecticide will be made on fields following corn. We recommend medium size flat or round sized seed for optimum planting efficiency. Each field plot will be 10 feet wide (4 rows spaced 30 inches apart) and 17.5 feet long and the center two rows will be harvested. Plots will not be thinned. Stand counts will be made in June after corn has reached the V8 - V10 stage of development.

Seed requirements:

Four pounds of seed (medium flat or round size preferred) are required for each zone. **We will only accept Glyphosate tolerant entries this year!**  A hybrid may be entered into more than one zone if the relative maturity falls between two zones. Entries with seed applied insecticides and approved transgenic traits are accepted. The application form has space provided to indicate this information. Please provide as much information as possible so we can correctly identify your hybrids entered in the trials.

** We will have two locations available for non-glyphosate tolerant varieties, one in Centre County (zone 1 and 2) and one in Lancaster County (zone 3). If you have interest in this, please contact Dayton Spackman at 814-441-9314 or djs5487@psu.edu for more information**

Data collection:

The following data will be collected: yield, grain moisture, percent stalk and root lodging, and population at V8-V10. Additionally, if disease or pest damage is found, these will be noted.

Application fee and deadlines:

The application fee will be $360.00 for each zone entered. No provision is made for reimbursement of application fees due to dropped test sites or late arriving seed entries. The first deadline for application (see details below) is March 2. Seed should be sent no later than March 20 (sooner if possible). We cannot guarantee entry placement after this date. Please let us know if seed shipment is delayed for some reason (winter nursery, etc.) so we can plan accordingly. Typical planting date is late April – May.

How to apply:

Step 1: Please visit the Penn State field and forage crops official variety testing program website and download a Non-proprietary Field Grant Form (.pdf) and an Application Form (.xlsx). If you would like to receive these forms via mail, please let us know.

Step 2: Complete both forms and email the completed forms to djs5487@psu.edu. If you would like to send these forms via mail, please let us know.

Step 3: Mail or drop off a paper copy of the Non-proprietary Field Grant Form accompanied by the payment check to Dayton Spackman. The check amount must correspond to the amount indicated in the Non-proprietary Field Grant Form.    

Steps 1 and 2 must be completed by March 2. Step 3 must be completed no later than June 2.

Corn Silage Testing Program

We have been working with the Professional Dairy Managers of Pennsylvania (PDMP) since 2002 in developing a corn silage testing program to provide better and more complete information to Pennsylvania farmers on hybrid corn performance as a forage crop. PDMP will provide an application and details of test sites which you should soon receive in a separate mailing. An online application is available.  Please contact us if you do not receive this application and are interested in entering into this testing program. At each site, 4 rows of each variety are planted in 3 or 4 replications. Planting will be done with a precision vacuum planter targeting a seeding rate of 34,000 seeds per acre.  At harvest the center two rows are chopped using a McCormick tractor equipped with a front mounted Champion® header/chopper and a rear mounted Hege® sampler equipped with electronic scales. Plot weight will be recorded using HarvestMaster® electronic instrumentation. A subsample of each plot will be bagged from the Hege® sampler and sent for analysis to Dairyland Laboratories. Data will be analyzed and made available online.

Other Services

The Pennsylvania State University corn testing program is equipped and has land resources available to conduct a limited number of contractual research projects that can generate beneficial information to you and the Pennsylvania corn industry. Examples include small-plot yield trials, population rate studies, fertility trials, disease evaluation, and soil compaction. Please let me know if we can assist in these projects.

We look forward to an exciting year and welcome suggestions on how we can make variety testing relevant to your needs and the needs of Pennsylvania corn producers. Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions.

Dayton Spackman
814-441-9314
djs5487@psu.edu