Tom J Bechman
KEEP CORN HEALTHY: Research data and farmer experience show that when corn stays healthy longer, total kernel weight increases, and yields go up. Corn Illustrated: This corn grower uses multiple fungicide applications when necessary to reach higher yields.
Brad Wehr enjoys seeing how much corn he can grow per acre. It’s why he participates in the National Corn Growers Association corn yield contest. He took the top prize nationally in 2020 in the strip till/ no-till non-irrigated division, with a recorded yield of 347.4597 bushels per acre.
Perhaps more important than winning is what he’s learning, Wehr says. Wehr and his family farm both in Dubois and Pike counties in southwest Indiana.
Tom J.Bechman
GOOD START: Soybeans planted early have a better chance to develop more nodes compared to soybeans planted later. Some believe the planting date is more important for soybeans than for corn.
Ask Brad Wehr when he intends to plant soybeans if conditions are right, and he won’t hesitate. Wehr, of Jasper, Ind., will be ready to plant soybeans in early April. Even if he’s not comfortable planting corn yet, he will plant soybeans.
Some agronomists have been advocating planting soybeans before corn. Wehr has a 30-inch row corn planter and plants into strips on many corn acres, and he has a 15-inch row planter soybeans. He started the soybean planter first in 2020.
U.S. farmers not only planted and harvested a large crop successfully in 2020, but they also rolled out some impressive yields in the National Corn Growers Association’s National Corn Yield Contest despite weather challenges, wildfires, and a pandemic. Don Stall, Charlotte, Michigan, produced the highest yield in the contest with a yield of 476.9052 bushels per acre, reflecting farmers’ resilience and the value of modern seed varieties, advanced production techniques and innovative growing practices.
The National Corn Yield Contest is now in its 56th year and remains NCGA’s most popular program for members.
“This contest brings farmers together to create, innovate and explore ways to optimize the nation’s largest and arguably most important crop,” said Debbie Borg, chair of NCGA’s Member and Consumer Engagement Action Team. “At both the state and national levels, contest winners find new ways to excel while using a variety of techniques. Ultimately, the invention an