Missouri farmer John Engram wanted the higher efficiency and yield he could get with narrow rows, but he didn't want to change his equipment spacing or lose irrigation efficiency due to difficulty of maintaining narrower beds. He found a way to accomplish both goals with twin-row planting. Engram discussed his experiences with twin-row systems during the Conservation Systems Cotton and Rice Conference in Tunica, Miss.

Engram, who farms cotton, corn and soybeans near Vanduser, Mo., decided to make a change in his row spacing in 1990. He didn't like the yields he was getting in corn on 38-inch rows. “I saw where farmers were getting yield increases on 30-inch configurations, because they were increasing their plant populations and utilizing sunlight and all their inputs better.”





Engram suggests that producers plant the two rows 7.5 inches apart directly in the middle of a bed that has been flattened by a roller. “You don't want the plants falling off the bed on one side.”



“What you're looking for is more fruit. If you have 3,000 more ears of corn out there and each is just as big as the other 30,000 ears, you make more grain per acre. We've done a lot of studies since 1993 and we're picking up about 19 bushels per acre on the twin-row versus the single-row. We've been picking up 12 to 15 extra bushels per acre on beans and have increased our cotton yields by about 10 percent, to about 1,320 pounds.”


Engram added that the twin-row soybeans achieve canopy quickly. “I don't lose as much moisture to evaporation. Every time I irrigate, I have a pretty substantial cost. If I can save an irrigation by getting a good canopy on top, that will save me money.”

Engram was able to easily pick his twin-row cotton with a spindle cotton picker. “It picks fine as long as you don't get wider than 7.5 inches. You start tagging cotton a little bit when you go wider and you start losing cotton yield.”


e-mail: erobinson@prismb2b.com