NCGA Special Sponsored Section Sponsors: BASF • Bayer CropScience • John Deere An agronomic information booklet featuring winners of the 2007 National Corn Growers Association National Corn Yield Contest NATIONAL CORN YIELD CONTEST 2007 WINNERS CORN YIELD GUIDE
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NCGASpecial Sponsored Section
Sponsors: BASF • Bayer CropScience • John Deere
An agronomic
information booklet
featuring winners of
the 2007 National Corn
Growers Association
National Corn Yield ContestNATIONAL CORN YIELD CONTEST
2007 WinnerS Corn YielD GuiDe
NCGA
2 NCGA Corn Yield Guide
Successfully produc-ing corn in the 21st century requires a combination of tradi-
tional outdoor labor and the latest in scientific research and technology, and our growers have proved themselves adept at both. Coaxing life from fertile soil with water, nutrients and sunshine, farmers fight off weeds and pests, as well as armchair critics who say it can’t be done. And you suc-ceed in record fashion.
Every year as we tally the entries for the National Corn Growers Association National Corn Yield Contest, we are overwhelmed by the results. They are a clear demonstration of commitment and innovation on the part of U.S. corn producers, and 2007 was no exception.
This past year was a record-breaker for the corn industry overall, not just for the 529 winners listed in these pages. More than 13 billion bushels were harvested, exports set a record and the average yield was one of the highest witnessed. We like-wise knew that farmers were more interested in this contest than ever before, filling out a record-shattering number of entries: 4,932, which is 56 percent more than 2006. But we were astounded
at some of the yields and some of the stories growers had to tell about their success. Twenty-four entries recorded yields of 300 bushels or more per acre.
To a great degree, this is a tri-umph of technology. The hybrid seeds many growers plant were developed not just for higher yields, but to protect our crops from weeds and pests. We recognize and salute our many industry partners who want to help us advance our farms in a safe and sustainable fashion. It’s evident our nation’s corn growers are committed to new technology and to protecting the soil we farm, the water we drink and the air we breathe.
From no-till practices to reduced herbicide or pes-ticide use to reliance on rain over irrigation, corn producers are growing greener.
The U.S. corn industry may have had its share of attacks in 2007, but you refused to quit. Pushing limits, you help us see how far we can go. And you disprove those who say corn growers can’t meet all needs: food on the table, feed in the pen, fuel in the tank or fiber on our backs. We at NCGA salute your hard work, and we continue our commitment to do all we can to help grow your markets and opportunities at home and abroad.
A Message from Your President
Ron Litterer, President National Corn Growers Association
The NCGA Mission“To create and increase opportunities for corn growers.”
Special Sponsored Section from BASF, Bayer CropScience and John Deere
Special Sponsored Section from BASF, Bayer CropScience and John Deere
Sam Santini Jr. and his family are no strangers to the winner’s circle, with
him having notched a first-place win in this category in 2004. But 2007 goes down as another banner year. “I had a goal I always wanted to hit 300 bu. Finally, we did,” he says. His yield, topping 313 bu. per acre, marks his highest ever.
Besides coming out on top this category, his wife, Chris, captured a third place in the A Ridge-Till Non-Irrigated Class with a yield of more than 254 bu. an acre.
“It was a good year. We had rain quite often, and it was a nice, warm summer,” he says of their northern New Jersey region. Santini credits great seed and his crop consultants. “To get 300 bu., everything has to be right.”
The slightly rolling, winning field boasts clay-loam soils and has been planted to corn for 22 years. “Everybody that sells seed wants this field.” This year, he gave the nod to his DeKalb salesman and let him select the hybrid, DKC61-66. Santini favors 110- to 115-day maturity and shorter plants. This Roundup Ready hybrid featured triple-stacked traits.
Santini applied 4 tons of poultry manure and deep-tilled the previous fall. He then planted about May 1 with a John Deere 1760. Seeding rate was 34,000. The season was a bit wet early but then turned dry.
The fertilizer program in-cluded 100 units of nitrogen, 40 of phosphorus and 50 of potash, with nitrogen split between planter and sidedress applications. X-Tra Power was also used at both applica-tions. Corn stood about 18" to 24" high when the sidedress nitrogen was dribbled between rows.
Agritain, Guardsman and Prowl at planting provided weed control, supplemented with a Roundup treatment when corn reached about 12" tall. To control disease, Santini applied Headline fungicide when corn reached head high. “That (Headline) was some of the advantage to getting a little more yield.” Santini also applied Mustang, BioForge, NutriLeaf and Knockdown when he sprayed the Headline.
Santini admits to being a bit more particular with his contest acres. “It’s like a racecar. You have to do everything right.”
The Santinis have participated in the contest since the 1970s. “It’s my hobby, and I think it makes you a better farmer,” Santini says, add-ing that their crop consultant learns from their efforts too. “You keep trying things to see what works and what doesn’t work.”
Sam Santini Jr.
Jon E. StutzmanAgronomist
Stephen KomarAg Instructor
Rutgers Cooperative Extension
Bill TietjenCounty Extension Agent
Rutgers Cooperative Extension
Supervisors
Paul BickettBickett FarmsCentral City, Ky.291.5654 BU/ACPioneer 31D61Harvest pop.: 30,000Harvester: JD 9860 STS
Paul Bickett figures an after-tasseling, aerial application of fungicide made the difference in harvesting his highest-ever yield and returning him to the winner’s circle.
Bickett prepared the field by disking and ripping the soil the previ-ous fall and cultivating in spring. The 265 units of nitrogen, 115 units of phosphorus and 150 units of potash were applied preplant. Frost killed his first planting, so this entry was replanted about April 10 with a JD 1780 at 32,000 seeds per acre. Planting conditions were good on the loamy, creek-bottom field that had been planted to corn previously. Lexar and Warrior broadcast after planting provided weed and insect control.
Fungicide-sprayed areas yielded 30 to 40 bu. more corn than test strips, much more than the 8 to 10 bu. anticipated. “We’ll use it again next year and see if it works again.”
“We take soil tests every two years and try to keep soils all right,” Bickett notes. “It must have been the fungicide. We didn’t do anything different as far as fertility. This year, (the fungicide) made a world of difference.”
Right up to harvest, Darrell Hagan didn’t think he had that great a crop. “It was a very hot summer, and for the most part dry. But for some reason when we needed a rain, somehow or another we got a rain.”
His winning yield marks a personal best and his first foray into the winner’s circle. And it comes from a field he had to plant twice. The first time, he planted March 22 and a late freeze killed the stand when it was 3" tall. He replanted April 18 with his Kinze planter.
The field had been in doublecrop wheat and soybeans the previous year. Hagan applies fertilizer only every other year, according to what soil tests call for. Last March, it was 245 units of nitrogen, 115 of phospho-rus and 150 of potash, applied as dry fertilizer and anhydrous. A field cultivator worked the field prior to planting. Herbicide treatment on this Roundup Ready variety consisted of 1 qt. atrazine and Princep preemer-gence, followed by 1 qt. of Clear-Out on both May 7 and May 24.
The creek bottom soil is unlike any other he farms. “It’s always got moisture. It’s a really good type of soil.”
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Wally Linneweber’s area of Indiana got 7" less rainfall than usual in 2007.
But showers hit just right to propel this first-time national winner to the top of this category.
“It’s better than what I thought it was. Our yields were all good,” says Linneweber, who farms in partnership with brother Joe. “We got rains when we needed it,” he says. “We could have used a little more rain in July and August, but it worked out.”
He prepared the loam-silt soil, which had been in wheat in 2006, by chisel plowing and spreading 10,000 gal. of hog manure the previous fall. He ran a field cultivator over the gently rolling field before planting in mid-April with a John Deere 1790 variable-rate planter. Seeding rate ranged from 26,000 to 36,000, with no starter fertilizer. Right after planting, he applied Balance Pro and atrazine with 10 gal. of 28 percent nitrogen. That sufficed for weed control. “It’s Roundup Ready corn, but it didn’t need it. It was clean.” They also depend on varieties
with the Herculex trait for insect control.
He sidedressed 100 to 200 units of anhydrous ammonia when corn reached knee-high. He credits manure from his 10,000 hogs as the main contributor to the yield; they provide 2 million gal. for the brothers to apply in each spring and fall. “I think that’s the main thing” that accounts for success. Linneweber figures manure is worth $200 an acre. “It’s there next year and the next year.”
The hybrid, Pioneer 33M57, is a solid performer they’ve used before and will use again. “We choose our hybrid seed by the soil type with the help of our seed dealer and our soil consultant,” he says. They harvested Sept. 17 in dry conditions.
Linnewebers, who farm 3,500 acres in southwestern Indiana, have been using variable-rate technology for four years, with yield and soil-type maps determining seed and fertilizer rates within fields. “I wish I was 40 years younger,” he says, noting how fast technology is changing. “The technology is paying for itself, and you see how fast it’s growing.”
He adds, “There’s spots out there that don’t grow 200-bu. corn.” The technology allows them to use just the resources they need to get the crop their soil is capable of producing. “We’re not just dumping it on there.”
Kevin KalbDubois, Ind.280.7783 BU/APioneer 33N12Harvest pop.: 30,000Harvester: Case IH 2388
Kevin Kalb achieved his best yield ever and a spot in the winner’s circle in his first year competing. His corn overall averaged 15 bu. higher than usual. “We didn’t put any extra effort into it.”
The sandy-clay, creek bottom field had been planted to soybeans the year before. Kalb ran a Turbo-Till over the minimum-till field before planting in mid-April with a John Deere 7200 at a seeding rate of 31,500. The Bt seed was treated with Poncho 1250. A half-rate of Harness applied preemergence and Roundup sprayed when corn reached 2" tall provided weed control. Kalb sidedressed 200 lbs. of nitrogen with Agritain when corn reached about 18" tall.
Weather cooperated. Kalb finished planting all his corn in mid-April. Starting around July 4, he reports, about 8" of rainfall fell over two weeks. Temperatures hovered around 80 as corn tasseled. Then it turned hot and dry, Kalb says, with only a 10th of an inch of rain or two falling here and there. Corn came out of the field at 15 percent, requiring no drying.
The hybrid, Pioneer 31N12, was his best performer the previous year. “We like planting fuller-season corn.”
Ralph and Don WalterR & D Walter FarmsGrand Ridge, Ill.279.9772 BU/ADeKalb DKC61-69Harvest pop.: 34,000Harvester: JD 9610
Some test plots achieved even higher yields than R & D Walter Farms’ contest entry, a testament to a banner year all-around that vaults brothers Ralph and Don Walter to the national winner’s circle for the first time.
They treat all their fields the same, says Ralph. “We don’t go fishing out this field for the best spot.”
The winning field was deep-ripped the previous fall and treated with 60 lbs. of potash and 150 lbs. of ammonium sulfate. In spring, they did vertical tillage with a stalk chopper harrow. They planted the contest field at a seeding rate of 38,000 on April 18 with a John Deere 7000. Starter fertilizer consisted of 80 lbs. of 7-22-5 with 0.25 lb. of zinc. They applied another 100 lbs. of nitrogen with Keystone and Balance Pro preemer-gence and as a sidedress. Headline provided disease control.
Ralph Walter attributes their yield to silt-loam soils, good drainage, a cousin who determines fertilizer needs, and work with Farm Journal field agronomist Ken Ferrie. “The deep tillage helps to hold more mois-ture. It’s more like a big sponge.” Stalks left on the surface stem wind and water erosion. “We had pretty much ideal weather this year.”
Supervisors
James V. PeterCounty Extension Agent
Purdue University Cooperative Extension
Johnathon StevensCounty Extension Agent
Purdue University Cooperative Extension
Fred WoodsCounty Executive Director
Retired
SupervisorsGregory A. Missal
County Executive DirectorFSA
Ryan LeifeitCrop Insurance Specialist
Farm Credit Services
Rick BaconVice President
First National Bank
Supervisors
Gene FlaningamCrop Consultant
Brad SummersCounty Executive Director
FSA
Mike SwainAg Lender
Regions Bank
Rex DeckerSoil Conservationist
SWCD
Supervisors
Wally Linneweber
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First Place
Second Place Third Place
NCGA
8 A No-Till/Strip-Till Non-Irrigated Class
Phil, Pat And Joe ThompsonPPJ Thompson FarmsOwensboro, Ky.
Yields topping 250 bu. per acre are nothing new to brothers Phil, Pat and
Joe Thompson, but their winning yield of 297 bu. came as a pleasant surprise. “We’d never reached that plateau before,” says Phil Thomp-son. “I’m kind of in awe of it.”
It earned them their first national win in only a few years of entering the contest. “I’m amazed,” he admits. “It’s kind of a shock to win a division in national.”
He says, “It was kind of dry, but we had the right population of corn per acre, and we had timely rains when the corn needed it.” Their seed man recommended the hybrid, which they had never planted before. “He said it was kind of a racehorse variety.”
The loamy soil, previously planted to soybeans, boasts good organic matter. The brothers applied hog manure over winter and used Touch-down as their burndown herbicide. A split application of Aatrex and Lexar completed their weed control, and Capture provided insect con-trol. Thompsons planted corn with a 12-row John Deere 1760 at a rate
of 35,000 to 36,000 seeds per acre in perfect conditions in early April. The planter sports floating row cleaners to ensure emerging plants see sunshine. “Just about everything came up because it was a really good stand in the beginning.” The field’s excellent soil can sustain higher plant populations, given good weather, he notes.
Quilt fungicide and Warrior insecticide were sprayed from an airplane in July. Hired primarily for 50 acres of white corn, Thompsons had the pilot cover their yellow corn too. “This year I think it made us money,” Thompson says of the Quilt. All corn acres get the same treatment.
Manure was supplemented with a sidedressing of anhydrous, for a total 200 units of nitrogen. The hybrid gets credit for some of the yield. “Some of that I attribute to the genetics.”
Annual soil tests tell them just how much fertilizer to apply, and they apply only what they need to make the crop. No-till saves travel over the fields, for less soil compaction and lower fuel costs. “No-till for us is the way to go. It does a really good job for us.”
Though relatively new to the contest, they’ve regularly put out test plots. “It doesn’t take any extra time to plant it, and harvest isn’t bad,” Thompson says. “It lets you know how you’re doing in the state and even in the country.”
Paul WinklerAdult Ag TeacherKy. Community
Technical College
Clint HardyCounty Extension Agent
University of Ky. Cooperative Extension
Tom CurtsingerRetired
County Extension Agent
Supervisors
Supervisors
Paul WinklerAdult Ag Teacher
Ky. Community Technical College
Clint HardyCounty Extension Agent
University of Ky. Cooperative Extension
Wayne MattinglyRetired
County Extension Agent
SupervisorsDelbert G. Voight Jr.
County Extension AgentPenn State Cooperative Extension
Heather RodriguezSoil Conservationist
NRCS
John BoyerCrop and Soil Agent
Hershey Ag Consultants
Supervisors
Rick and Phil CastlenCastlen Brothers FarmOwensboro, Ky.275.9974 BU/APioneer 34P94Harvest pop.: 29,500 Harvester: JD 9760 STS
Rick and Phil Castlen’s first foray into the winner’s circle was totally unexpected. “It was a real surprise that we ended up with the best corn crop we ever had,” says Phil Castlen.
Like several others in the contest, he mentions a freeze that killed some newly germinated fields. Their crop, not yet germinated when the cold snap hit, escaped injury. Warm, dry weather was hitting a critical point when rains fell in late June. About July 23, it quit raining again, and two weeks of 100-degree weather hit.
Spring conditions fostered a healthy stand. “It was just a picket fence.” The brothers planted 31,000 seeds per acre two days after Easter with a Kinze 3600 twin-line planter fitted with Precision Meters. The loam soil had been planted to soybeans previously. In early March, they sprayed atrazine, Princep and Gramoxone to kill winter annuals. They applied half their Lexar herbicide at planting, and the other half postemergence. Insect control was provided by an in-furrow application of Capture, applied with 3 gal. of starter fertilizer. The balance of the 245 units of nitrogen, 115 of phosphorus and 150 of potash were broadcast.
Daryl Alger had no idea this season would bring his best yield ever and first national placing in 25 years of entering the contest. “It was dry in the spring, and we were really concerned. We all had visions of a catastrophe.”
Then they were blessed with 2" of rain in early July, a wet August and September, followed by a dry October. Showers hit just right, he says, not-ing that areas 50 miles south harvested less than half their normal crop.
The loamy, limestone field, an orchard until about 10 years ago, is a consistent producer. “It produces like crazy. We did not do anything special.” As a matter of fact, he fussed less over this than any of four contest fields.
After taking off wheat and doublecrop soybeans the previous season, Alger applied 60 units each of dry phosphorus and potash on frozen ground. Alger, who farms with son Zach, also applied atrazine and Prin-cep in late December.
He planted around April 30 with a Case IH 1200 in optimum condi-tions. Touchdown provided postemergence weed control. All 200 units of nitrogen went on with dribble tubes when corn reached about 18" tall.
Pat, Phillip and Joe Thompson
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Jeff Mezera is on quite a roll. With a first- and third-place finish in this
class, he’s worked his way into the na-tional winner’s circle five years in a row.
Mezera describes the weather for this year’s growing season as a mixed bag. Early in the year, conditions were nearly ideal. “We had ideal moisture for planting, not too wet and not too dry. The plants emerged about two weeks later and we had a nearly perfect stand. The crop really took off.”
But the weather took a turn several weeks later. “It started with 4.5" of rain on July 3,” says Mezera. “From that point on, the rain wouldn’t quit. During July and August, we had a total of 26". It was something.”
The overabundance of rain probably held yields back, says Mezera. “We didn’t have a lot of sunshine later in the season,” he says. “We could have used more for photosynthesis. We also saw a lot of lodging
that we normally don’t see. If the season had finished like it started, we probably would have done a lot better on yield.”
Mezera started prepping his contest field, planted to soybeans the previous year, over the winter months by applying a thin layer of dairy cow manure at a rate of 8 tons per acre. A week ahead of his April 20 planting date, he knifed in anhydrous ammonia for 220 actual units of N. At the same time, he sprayed Lumax at 3 qt. per acre. With a credit of 40 units of N from the previous year’s soybean crop and another 60 units from dairy cow manure, he figures total N use for the season at 325 units.
At planting, Mezera applied 5 gal. of 6-18-12 starter fertilizer into the furrow. This year, he backed planting population off to 48,000 seeds per acre. “Over the last six or seven years, we’ve steadily worked our way up on populations,” he says. “Last year, we planted 51,000. But we thought that might have been a little too high in our 20" rows. There’s an awful lot of plants out there fighting for sunshine once the crop gets going.”
“On the flip side, we like the 20" rows for getting a good early canopy. That helps with erosion control on our hilly terrain. In the fall, we also get a fair amount of trash for our no-till ground.”
Jeff Mezera
Theodore F. BayCounty Extension AgentUniversity of Wisconsin
Extension
Ken HartzellRisk Management Specialist
Farm Credit Services
Timothy McComishNCGA Representative
Wis. Corn Growers Association
Sarah R. DaughertyAg Instructor
Southwest WS Technical College
Supervisors
Kathy LittleLittle FarmsHebron, Ind.284.5612 BU/APioneer 33N12Harvest pop.: 37,000Harvester: Case IH 2377
A few weather blips during the growing season had Kathy Little wondering about her prospects for placing in the national contest this year. In the end, the entry pulled through.
Wet weather delayed planting. “Normally, we have a target date of April 20,” she says. “We didn’t get the contest entry into the ground until May 4. Then in late August we had a three-day rain. In some areas, we had 8" to 10" of standing water. That had us a little concerned, but it turned out all right.”
Little believes selecting Pioneer 33N12 was one of the better decisions she made this year. “We had used those genetics before, but this is the first time we had it with the Herculex 1 and Roundup traits,” she says. “Our contest entry is on river bottom ground where we have some corn borer pressure. We also get a fair amount of weed pressure there and we need to be able to come back with glyphosate in a two-pass system to get optimum control.”
Little says one value of participating in the contest is learning from your mistakes. “You really have to pay attention to details.”
Guy A. CarlsonVice President
DeMotte State Bank
Bill MoranDistrict Conservationist
NRCS
Todd AmesSoil Conservationist
NRCS
Supervisors
Jeff MezeraMezera FarmsBagley, Wis. 281.0622 BU/APioneer 34R67 Harvest pop.: 47,000Harvester: JD 9500 When circumstances beyond his control toss a monkey wrench into his plans, Jeff Mezera doesn’t flinch. He adjusts and tries to find new opportunity.
Mezera faced a major challenge this year while getting ready for an aerial application of Headline fungicide on his contest field. “From what we had heard, the best time for making the application is right around tasseling,” says Mezera. “Our problem is that we don’t have a lot of aerial applicators in our area. When we started calling around, everybody was booked up for the time period we needed them to be here.”
Mezera continued making calls over a two-week period. “By the time we finally lined up someone, we had brown silk on some of the corn. We contacted some people to see if they thought we could still benefit from using the fungicide,” he relates. “We had a lot of rain in July and August, and that led to more late-season disease pressure than we normally have. The late application actually worked to our advantage.”
The episode has Mezara pondering next year. “We need to look for ways to get longer-lasting control with a fungicide.”
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It was a one-two finish for Virginia’s Hula family. David picks up top honors in this class with a whopping 386-
bu. yield. His brother, Johnny, was close behind with a yield of 370 bu. Hula planted his entry on April 3 at a population of 39,000 seeds
per acre. “We spend a lot of time prior to the season getting equipment ready to roll,” he says. “We pay special attention to the corn meters. We want them calibrated just right so we get optimum seed spacing. We think it’s one of the most critical things a farmer can do.”
Taking steps to ensure good seed health is another focal point in Hula’s effort to achieve high yield. Along with using seed treated with Poncho 250 insecticide, Hula treats seed with a zinc formula from Wolftrac and Amplify-L from Conklin. “We try to wrap some fertility around the seed to get it off to a good start.”
Hula also laid a 9-8-19 starter fertilizer in the furrow and banded another starter (66-33-0-6S-0.6Zn-0.1B) 3" to the side and 2" below the seed. “Because of the high nitrogen content of the starter, we don’t
want to burn the roots,” he explains. “By moving the band a little farther away, we figure the nitrogen will be diluted some by the time the roots reach it.”
For weed control, Hula broadcast 3 pt. of Princep and 3 pt. of Aatrex right after planting. When the corn was 2' tall, he broadcast 3 oz. of Callisto and 0.75 oz. of Steadfast.
At the four-leaf stage, he sidedressed with 160 lb. N. “We use that as a starting point, then we work with our agronomist, taking regular tissue samples and deep soil nitrate probes to determine how much nitrogen we need as we go along,” Hula explains. “This year, we came back with another sidedressing of 60 lb. when the corn reached the six-leaf stage and 45 lb. (also sidedressed) when it was shoulder high. We also used the tissue samples as a base for broadcasting micronu-trients (copper, manganese, zinc and boron) when the corn was at the five-leaf stage.”
Hula put his first water on the contest entry immediately after the first nitrogen sidedressing. “We want to make sure we don’t lose any of that N to volatilization.” From there, he relied on several reports from his agronomy service each week to schedule irrigation through a center pivot.
Johnny Hula Renwood Farms Inc. Charles City, Va. 370.8539 BU/ADeKalb DKC63-39Harvest pop: 32,000 Harvester: JD 9660 STS
Holding disease pressure in check on ir-rigated corn ground is an ongoing battle in the southeastern United States, notes Johnny Hula. This year, Hula won the battle on his contest entry ground.
“We believe you can’t just take a defensive approach to potential disease problems,” says Hula. “You have to be proactive.”
Making two applications of Headline was part of Hula’s strategy. When corn was about 2' tall, he used a ground rig to apply 4 oz. per acre. Right before the crop tasseled, he flew on another 8 oz. “We’ve been trying different fungicide products for five years,” Hula says. “From what we’ve seen, the Headline has given us a yield boost of around 17 bu. per acre.”
Hula takes a similar approach to insect control. This year, he applied Karate at a rate of 1.5 oz. per acre to ward off Japanese beetles. “The beetles feed on the silk. And when you’re trying to achieve a high yield, every silk on every ear is important.”
Hula adds that participating in the contest over the years has been out and out fun. “It has given us a lot of opportunities to get together with some of the best corn growers in the country.”
Weather conditions for growing a high-yield corn crop were far from ideal in his area for a big chunk of the season. But Donny Carpenter still managed an all-time, personal best.
“When it comes to the weather, timing is everything,” says Carpenter. “We started out in good shape. We had an adequate snowfall and good win-ter precipitation. That meant we didn’t have to pre-water like we usually do. With good subsoil moisture and some cooler than normal temperatures, the contest entry and the rest of our corn got off to pretty good start.”
When weather turned hot and dry in mid-June, Carpenter was still able to find a silver lining. “We had the center pivot irrigation, so we were able to put the water on when we needed it. We also had a lot of the sunny days and the heat units that it takes to grow a good crop.”
Southern rust and other disease problems resulting from wet, humid conditions early in the season posed a major challenge this year. He countered by flying on the fungicide Stratego just before pollination. “Along with helping us control rust, we think it also leads to better overall plant health.”
Supervisors
Paul H. DavisCounty Extension Agent
Va. Cooperative Extension
Philip T. HickmanNCGA Representative
Va. Department of Agriculture
James V. WallaceAg Specialist
SWCD
SupervisorsKyle Aljoe
Crop ConsultantCrop Quest Inc.
Doug MoyerAgronomist
Crop Quest Inc.
Emilio NinoCounty Extension Agent
Texas Ag Extension
Supervisors
Paul H. DavisCounty Extension Agent
Va. Cooperative Extension
Philip T. HickmanNCGA Representative
Va. Department of Agriculture
James V. WallaceAg Specialist
SWCD
Supervisors
David K. Hula
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First Place
Second Place Third Place
NCGA
11A Ridge-Till Non-Irrigated Class
Elwin Tanner Tanner FarmsUnion City, Tenn.
286.4549 BU/APioneer 31D61Harvest pop.: 33,000Harvester: Case IH 2388
Persistence pays off. After placing third in this class for the past two years,
Elwin Tanner and wife Brenda latched onto top honors this year. Elwin’s yield of 286 bu. was an all-time personal best.
Given the outcome, it’s almost hard to believe that early in the sea-son, Tanner was thinking his entry would flop. “We started out the year very dry, and in May and June it was extremely dry,” he says. “During those two months, we had a total of a half-inch of rain. The corn was all twisted up and it looked really bad. I was about ready to give up on it.”
Relief came with 1.5" of rain on the last day of June. A day later, the skies opened up again, producing another 1.5". “They came at just the right time, at the critical stage when the crop was just starting to silk. If they hadn’t come along, our yield would have been at least 100 bu. less. It would have been a mess.”
Tanner believes the early dry period actually ended up helping the
crop. “The corn was under stress, so it had to put down real good roots,” he says. “With our creek bottom ground, we don’t get much hardpan. That helps. ”
The weather turned dry again in July and remained that way through the remain-der of the season. But, Tanner believes, the stretch of dry weather later in the year helped too. “It was dry, but it was also cool, and we didn’t have much in the way of humidity,” he says. “That meant we didn’t have much disease pressure. We saw that when we went to harvest the crop. Ordinarily at harvest, our corn will have a black, sooty look. This year, it was a golden color.”
Along with weather, Tanner believes the hybrid he selected, Pioneer 31D61, was a major factor in this year’s winning yield. “This was the first time we used it,” he says. “A lot of times, top-yielding varieties don’t have very good standability. But this one is known in some areas as the ‘hurricane variety’ because it stands so well.”
Tanner planted his contest entry at 35,000 seeds per acre. “We think that’s about as high as we can go here,” he says. “If you get the plants too thick, you can run into a standability problem once you get to full canopy.”
Elwin Tanner with wife Brenda and son Ethan
Timothy R. SmithCounty Extension Director
University of Tenn. Cooperative Extension
Ransom GoodmanCounty Extension Agent
University of Tenn. Cooperative Extension
W.T. HimeCounty Executive Director
FSA
Supervisors
Jyl Brown Fairview Farms Inc. Talmage, Neb. 270.5910 BU/APioneer 33T57Harvest pop: 30,500Harvester: Case IH 2577
What does it take to produce a contest-winning corn yield? Weather, weather and weather, says Jyl Brown, who captured second place in this class with a yield of 271 bu. an acre. “It was one of the best weather years for growing corn we’ve ever seen in our area,” says Brown. “We had plenty of rain every month except July, and we never got the extreme heat we can get.”
Brown planted her contest entry to Pioneer 33T57 on April 15. Plant-ing population was 30,000 seeds per acre. “This year, we probably could have pushed that a little higher,” says Brown. “But at the start of the year you never know what you’re going to have for rainfall.”
To control grass and small-seeded broadleaves, Brown sprayed the crop with 2.9 qt. of Degree Xtra and 0.5 pt. of Salvan right after planting. When the crop was knee-high, she applied Roundup.
At tassling, Brown flew on 6 oz. of the fungicide Headline. “It was something we hadn’t tried before,” she says. “We thought it would improve plant health and help yields a little bit. We’re not quite sure how much of a difference it made.”
Winning contest yields were a family affair at the Santinis this year. Chris Santini captured a third place in this class with a yield just over 254 bu. Her husband, Sam, earned first-place honors in the A Non-Irrigated Class.
“It was a great year for growing corn,” says Santini. “The corn got a little stressed in late May and early June, but other than that we had showers every week throughout the season.”
Santini planted the contest entry on May 1. For a hybrid, she selected Pioneer 32T84. “It was the first time we had it here,” she says. “We were looking for a long-season, short corn. We think if corn gets too tall, the sunlight can’t get down to warm up the ground, and that can set back yields. This one did a good job for us.”
At planting, Santini banded 10 gal. of 10-25-5 starter fertilizer. A custom operator applied 150 units of 32 percent liquid nitrogen later in the day. For weed control, 2 qt. of Guardsman and 1 pt. of Prowl were applied with the fertilizer. When the corn was waist-high, the entry was sidedressed with another 80 units of nitrogen. Santini soil tests contest fields every year.
Jon E. StutzmanAgronomist
Self-Employed
Stephen KomarAg Instructor
Rutgers Cooperative Extension
Bill TietjenCounty Extension Agent
Rutgers Cooperative Extension
Supervisors
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First Place
Second Place Third Place
NCGA
12 AA Ridge-Till Non-Irrigated Class
Jerry Cox Cox Farms Delta, Mo.
271.1172 BU/APioneer 31N28Harvest pop.: 32,000Harvester: Case IH 2388
The contest winning streak continues for father-and-son team Jerry and Matthew Cox. Along with a
first-place finish in this class, Jerry gathered a third-place finish in the AA Ridge-Till Irrigated Class. Matthew bested his dad by placing second in that category. With this year’s awards, they have now placed in the national contest 18 times since 1995.
Jerry Cox planted this year’s winning contest entry on March 28. “We caught the day just right,” he says. “A lot of other corn in this area froze out on Easter Sunday and had to be replanted. In our contest field, though, we ended up with a near-perfect stand.”
To get the entry off to a good start, Cox laid a starter fertilizer of 5 gal. of 3-18-18, 1 gal. of 0-0-25-17S and 1 pt. of zinc into the furrow. He also used a 2-by-2 band that included 10 gal. of 10-34-0, 10-gal. of 32-0-0, plus 4 gal. of 0-0-25-17S. And he treated the seed with Amplify-L.
“We’ve been doing that since 2001,” Cox says of the seed treatment.
“It gives the seed a little more kick, a little more energy to come out of the ground. We think the day you plant is the most important day of the season. If you set the plant up to get off to a good start, it should be able to withstand a little adversity as the season goes along.”
Right after planting, Cox broadcast Resolve plus atrazine for pre-emergence weed control. “This year, we also used 1.5 pints of Wex with the herbicide,” says Cox. “It’s an additive that helps the spray solution hold together a little better, and it also loosens up the soil a bit.”
When the corn was at V-4 stage, Cox applied Z-Cyto, a biological product designed to stimulate cell division. “It helps the plant develop a wider leaf to capture more sunlight,” he explains.
At tasseling, Cox flew on 6 oz. of Headline fungicide. “It’s a form of insurance,” says this Missouri farmer. “We’re never exactly sure how much of a yield bump we get from it. But from what we’ve seen, we think we can safely say it’s around 8 to 12 bu. per acre. With the price of corn where it is now, we figure it takes about 4 or 5 bu. to pay the cost of the chemicals and the application. The rest of the additional yield goes to the bottom line.”
John Tomhave Jacksonville, Ill. 260.1277 BU/ADeKalb DKC63-39Harvest pop.: 33,000Harvester: Case IH 2377
John Tomhave started building his 260-bu. yield just a few weeks after taking a soybean crop off his contest entry ground in fall 2006 by broadcasting 1 pt. of glyphosate and 1 pt. of 2,4-D. “We want our fields to be as clean as possible when we’re planting in the spring.”
Tomhave planted his entry on April 17. Along with a starter fertilizer of 4 gal. per acre of 3-18-18 in the furrow, he broadcast 1 qt. of Lexar with a spray rig behind the planter. Right after cultivating in mid-May, he broadcast 24 oz. per acre of Touchdown.
Adequate moisture in May and June helped the entry get off to a good start, but the weather turned dry in early July. “After July 10, we didn’t get any rain to speak of for the remainder of the season,” he says. “If we had gotten just one good soaker, we would have done even better on yield.”
Tomhave believes consistently high yields are built over time. “We’ve been no-tilling, strip-tilling and ridge-tilling for about 25 years,” he says. “We don’t have any soil compaction to speak of, we have a good root mass to work with, and our earthworm population is extremely high, giving us good soil tilth.”
Gary Porter had to fight his way through one of the toughest weather years he can remember to make it into the winner’s circle this year. “When I learned we had placed in the contest, I could hardly believe it,” says Porter. “Things started out so poorly. We had rain, rain and rain early. I wasn’t able to plant my contest plot until May 20. That’s almost a month later than normal.”
Weather turned in the other direction during June and July. “We had a total of one-half inch of rain during those two months, says Porter. In mid-July, high winds knocked a big area of his contest field flat.
Porter borrowed a Monosem twin-row planter to plant his contest field at a population of 40,000 seeds per acre. “With this kind of planting, the rows are 9" apart,” he explains.
“The seeds drop alternately in the two rows. You end up with a diamond-shape pattern where no two seeds are ever directly across from one another in adjoining rows. That means the space between plants is at least 13". It benefits the root system and lets more sunlight reach the ground as the crop starts to develop.”
Supervisors
Aaron DufelmeierCounty Extension Agent
University of Ill. Cooperative Extension
April LittigCounty Extension Agent
University of Ill. Cooperative Extension
Todd F. BehrendsFieldman
Sangamon Valley FBFM
SupervisorsRosa Sandag
Vo Ag Instructor/FFA AdvisorCentral Decatur High School
Dennis L. MillerVice President
Farmers Bank of Northern Missouri
Joyce MeineckeCrop Insurance Agent
Great American
Supervisors
Gerald G. BryanNCGA Representative
University of Missouri Extension
Larry J. HammAg Loan OfficerAlliance Bank
Jim GoscheVice President Alliance Bank
Supervisors
Jerry Cox
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Steve Albracht continues to rack up first-place honors in the national
yield contest. Two years ago, he grabbed the top spot in the Irrigated Class. He fol-lowed that with a win in this class last year.
Now he’s on top of the heap again with another first-place finish. This year’s yield of 340 bu. tops last year’s mark by nearly 20 bu. Less than ideal weather at the start of the season had Albracht wondering whether he’d get anywhere near the winner’s circle.
“We had a lot of moisture early in the year, and that made it tough to get into the field,” he relates. “We didn’t get our contest entry planted until May 25. That was almost a month later than normal. I was starting to get a little concerned.”
After that, the weather evened out through most of the summer. “It never got really hot and dry like it can in this area,” he says. “We did hit 100 degrees on a couple of days in late August, but by then the crop was pretty well made. Things were looking good.”
He faced one additional weather scare a week before harvesting the entry in mid-October. “We had a hail storm with 80-mile-per-hour winds that knocked a lot of corn flat in our area,” he says. “The hail quit just a half-mile away from our contest field. The contest corn came through the wind all right, but we ended up harvesting in the mud.”
Albracht credits his high yield in part to steps he took at planting to ensure a uniform stand. Those included using seed treated with Poncho 1250, treating seed with Amplify-D and slowing his planting speed. “Our goal is to get a uniform drop when the seed comes out of the planter,” he says. “We want a stand that has a picket fence look to it as soon as it comes out of the ground, nice and even. To get that, you can’t be in a hurry.”
Reserve moisture early meant Albracht didn’t have to crank up the sprinklers on his center pivot until mid-June. He continued watering through early September and used a total of 30" of water on the crop.
“Last year was entirely different. It was extremely hot and dry and we used 40",” Albracht says. “It’s always a good thing when you can save a little water.”
Steven Albracht
Kyle AljoeCrop ConsultantCrop Quest Inc.
Doug MoyerAgronomist
Crop Quest Inc.
Emilio NinoCounty Extension Agent
Texas Ag Extension
Supervisors
Matthew Cox M&B FarmsScott City, Mo.320.8753 BU/APioneer 31D61Harvest pop.: 34,000Harvester: Case IH 2388
An all-time, farm-best yield and some good-natured family competition made this year’s growing season especially memorable for father-and-son farming team Jerry and Matthew Cox.
In the end, Matthew’s yield of nearly 321 bu. bested his dad’s effort by 4 bu. “Of course, I have to rib him about it,” says Matthew. “But not too much. The man knows what he’s doing when it comes to growing corn, and I want to keep learning from him.”
Cox believes the yield could have been even better. “This particular entry was planted on good ground, but it wasn’t our very best,” he says. “If we had gone to the other side of the field, we probably could have done another 10 bu. or so. Then again, don’t get me wrong. I’m not complaining.”
For a variety, Cox planted Pioneer 31D61 for the first time. “We really liked what we saw with it,” he says. “It gave us good test weight, stayed green for a long time and had a good stalk. We will be using it again.”
Cox and his dad walk their contest fields five to seven times a week. “We want to make sure everything is going along as it should be.”
Dayle WindsorAdult Vo Ag InstructorCommonwealth of Ky.
Gerald G. BryanNCGA Representative
University of Missouri Extension
Larry J. HammAg Loan OfficerAlliance Bank
Supervisors
Jerry Cox J&J Farms Delta, Mo. 316.3674 BU/APioneer 31N28Harvest pop.: 35,000Harvester: Case IH 2388
An extremely dry summer required Jerry Cox to pour the water to this year’s contest entry. In the end, the effort paid off with a yield topping 316 bu., a personal best.
“It was probably the driest summer we’ve had here in nearly 20 years,” says Cox. “We had to start putting water on (via furrow irrigation) in early May. Normally, we don’t start until mid-June. Overall, we irrigated nine times and put on 15" of water.”
But there were upsides to the weather too. “We never got the long stretches of extremely hot weather that we can get around here,” says Cox. “It did get a little warm later in the season. But by then, the crop was already made. It also seemed like we had a lot more sunshine over the course of the season.”
Cox says this year’s weather highlights the role chance can play. “We’re always talking about the importance of things like using a starter fertil-izer, planting at high populations, foliar feeding, flying on a fungicide and so on. But even if you do all those things and do them just right and on time, you’re still going to need a little help from Mother Nature.”
Gerald G. BryanNCGA Representative
University of Missouri Extension
Larry J. HammAg Loan OfficerAlliance Bank
Jim GoscheVice President Alliance Bank
Supervisors
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Kip Cullers has set up camp in the winner’s circle for this class. Two years ago, in his first year of
entering the contest, Cullers took second-place honors. Last year, he moved up a notch to the number one spot. This year, a yield of nearly 329 bu. puts him at the head of the class again.
This year’s growing season got off to a near-disastrous start. The field he had designated as his likely top contest field was hit by an Easter Sunday freeze about a month after planting. “We had originally planted on March 12 and the corn was looking great,” says Cullers. “We lost a number of good entries. We had to go to what we called our ‘Plan B’ fields. It kind of took the wind out of our sails for a bit. ”
In this case, the Plan B spot was in a field where Cullers had set a world record for soybean production (139 bu. an acre) in 2006. He started prepping the field for corn right after the bean harvest by spreading 3 tons per acre of poultry litter. “We disk and use a moldboard plow to make sure there are no layers in the soil that can
interfere with root growth and water and air movement. We also use a ripper if we need to break up compaction deeper in the soil profile.”
In later winter, Cullers was back on the field to disk in 200 lbs. of hummate along with 200 lbs. of ammonium sulfate. “We want to hold the nitrogen in the root zone as long as we can,” the Missouri farmer says. A week before planting, Cullers broadcast 1.5 qt. of atrazine to get a jump on weed control.
The contest entry went into the ground on April 3. Cullers planted Pioneer 31N28 at 56,000 seeds per acre using a twin-row planter. “In the field that was hit by the freeze, we had planted at 63,000 seeds per acre,” he says.
When the corn was 3' tall, Cullers broadcast Status to finish off any escaped weeds. “This was the first year we used this product,” Cullers says. “It was very inexpensive, and it worked unbelievably well.”
Cullers began putting water on the entry through a center pivot in mid-July. He continued watering as needed through August. “We prob-ably used a little less water than we normally do,” he reports. “We had a very wet spring.”
Kip Cullers takes a relatively simple approach to producing contest-winning yields year after year. “You plant the best genetics for your area, then protect the crop with a good fungicide and insecticide,” says Cullers. “Those are the easi-est things you can do to get the best yields and make the most money.”
For this entry, Cullers planted Pioneer 32B29. “It’s a 118-day hybrid that we’ve used in the past,” he says. “It’s a top-end yielder and has done pretty well for us.”
Cullers used a Monosem eight-row, twin-row planter to put his contest entry into the ground. “It’s a precision planter that’s usually used for vegetable production where plant-to-plant spacing is absolutely critical,” he explains. “I like it for my contest fields because you can easily adjust it for kernel size to avoid doubles. For my non-contest ground, I use a John Deere air planter.”
Right after the corn tasseled, Cullers flew on 9 oz. per acre of Headline fungicide and 3 oz. of Respect insecticide. “A lot of people use a 6-oz. rate for Headline,” he says. “We go with the higher rate to get another seven to 10 days of protection.”
Tommy And Valarie CartriteCartrite FarmsSunray, Texas318.9375 BU/APioneer 31N28Harvest pop.: 38,000Harvester: Case IH 2388
Tommy and Valarie Cartrite broke into the national contest winner’s circle for the first time with their yield of nearly 319 bu., an all-time personal best.
Seedbed preparation was one focal point for the Cartrites. A month before their April 27 planting date, the Cartrites ran a Turbo-Till across contest ground to work up the soil. Two weeks later, they broadcast 20 gal. of 32-0-0 on the field. That application was coupled with an ap-plication of herbicides: 3.2 qt. per acre of Degree Extra and 1.5 oz. of Balance Pro. “We want to get at those weeds and grasses before they have a chance to get up and compete with the crop,” says Tommy Cartrite. “If you let them get a foothold, it can cost you.
“We like to do the application in the fall, because it gives the chemicals a little more time to work in the cool weather,” he adds. “In the spring, we’re under the gun with other field work.”
Cartrite believes participating in the contest lets him compare how he measures up against other corn growers. “You see what other people are doing for yields, and it motivates you to think about what you need to do to be competitive.”
Supervisors
Jeff T. ParsonsVice PresidentSecurity Bank
Benjamin MarshallAssociate Director
Mo. Corn Growers Association
Jason C. SpurlockVice President
U.S. Bank
SupervisorsMike Caldwell
County Executive DirectorNRCS
Nick SimpsonCounty Extension Agent
Texas Ag Extension Service
Roxanne BowlingCounty Extension Agent
Texas Ag Extension Service
Supervisors
Jeff T. ParsonsVice PresidentSecurity Bank
Lindy LombardAg Loan OfficerSecurity Bank
Jason C. SpurlockVice President
U.S. Bank
Supervisors
Kip Cullers
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AA NON-IRRIGATED CLASS illinois R & D Walter Farms 279.9772 DeKalb VT3 Poncho250 34000 Decon BalancePro None 0/0/0 JD7000 GrandRidge,IL DKC61-69 Keystone JD9610
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432007 National Corn Yield Contest Summary
* Class A includes all states except Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio and Wisconsin. Class AA includes Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio and Wisconsin. No-Till, Ridge-Till and Irrigated classes comprise all states.
Forty-six states participated in the contest; 58 seed companies participated. The 529 state winners planted 213 hybrid num-bers. A total of 626 hybrid numbers were planted by 4932 entrants.