In 2019, the Ontario Corn Committee (OCC) created voluntary inoculated trials in Ridgetown and Ottawa to rate corn hybrids for susceptibility to DON accumulation.
Unfortunately, a number of inconsistencies were found in the results making them unreportable.
The DON levels in Ottawa were several times higher than that of Ridgetown and there was no significant difference among the hybrids at Ottawa.
Although there were significant differences among the hybrids in Ridgetown, there were serious discrepancies among these ratings compared to that of the 2018 and 2019 Tilbury Performance Trials.
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There was also a bias against early inoculated hybrids in the inoculated trial.
Due to these inconsistencies, the OCC determined that no 2019 DON data with hybrid names attached could be made public.
With no hybrid being deemed “resistant” to DON under all growing conditions, the best way to minimize risk is to diversify the hybrid selection, the committee reported.
The 2019 results indicate that environmental conditions can have an over-riding effect on hybrid performance.
The inoculated trials will continue in 2020, in an effort to develop testing techniques that more reliably indicate performance under natural conditions.
