You might look a little close at what may be going on beneath the surface. My best guess is that pests may be the culprit. Seed maggots, slugs and nematodes are serious problems in many areas. Try digging up a section of planted row to examine what the seed looks like. Did the seed actually sprout and then succumb to a pest? You could do an inside germination test but with new seed you probably need to look at the garden bed.

Concur: One of the reasons I use treated seed when available.

It seems to vary by cultivar for me.

This Year was the first year in twenty I have planted corn, and one thing I have noticed is, treated or not, su and se seed has better germination (even in warmer soil) than sh2, and, early varieties, even su varieties, seem to have poor germination compared to mid season and late. True in the past and now.

I am growing two SE varieties this year, Trinity (68 days) and Delectable (I think it's rated for 80 or 85).

I got about 80% germination on Delectable, but about 50% from Trinity. Both treated seeds, from Johnny's, bought at the same time.

Thanks for the comments. Being a farmer, always use treated seed if available and both these were. Wondered about soil pests, but all other seeds, lettuce, spinach, beets, cukes, beans, and onions, potatoes, etc. had no issues and none of those were treated. Well, going to town in a bit and will get yet another varietal and try again, will also do an inside germination test this time for "grins and giggles."

Thanks again,

it could be crows.....

This covers a lot of possibilities. I had problems with my early plantings this year. Very erratic spring temps and rainfall. http://agdev.anr.udel.edu/weeklycropupdate/?p=1001 That which came up had a major attack from European corn borers ( boll worms)

Yes, do a germination test. I have had good results through 6 sweet corn plantings and 2 pop corn plantings. only the 5th planting had less than full germination.