Balance agronomics and economics to raise your average production
By Michelle Rook and Sara Schafer
Kelly Garrett’s recipe for high corn yields is long and complex.
“It is very much about attention to detail,” he says. “There isn’t one silver bullet. There are 10, 12 or 15 things that you need to do correctly.”
The farmer from Denison, Iowa, and past winner of the National Corn Growers Association’s National Corn Yield Contest is disappointed if average corn yields on his farm don’t hit 400 bu. per acre on irrigated farmland and 235 bu. per acre on dryland.
To hit high yield marks, Garrett uses and focuses on foliar applications, variable-rate applications, biologicals and hybrid selection.
Another key is plant growth regulators. “The analogy is the plant grows more efficiently and does a better job of making yield verses just growing, say, as tall as it wants to grow,” he says.
SIDE-BY-SIDE TRIALS
In Blue Mound, Ill., Alex Head says it’s important to perform a host of side-by-side trials on his farm to keep up with the ever-changing environment.
“You’ve got to be on the leading edge and looking at new practices,” he says. “So, every year we usually try some-thing different.”
This year, that included planting earlier maturing soybeans.
“To be honest, they were some of our better yielding beans,” Head says. “So, I’m looking at planting some more early beans next year.”
With the 2022 harvest in the rearview mirror, Head says he’ll evaluate all the data from their trials to determine the hits and misses.
“After harvest we look at our yield maps and planting maps and compare them and see what happens, see what we like, see what we didn’t like and go from there,” he says.
AGRONOMIC PEER GROUP
Each year, you should be testing at least one new production practice on your farm, says Erich Eller, president of ForeFront Ag Solutions. An even better idea is to include your neighbors in the testing.
“I suggest you build a peer group with some farmers in your area who are focused on testing technology and hitting higher yields,” he says. “Then, instead of one farmer having to do 25 different tests, five or 10 farmers could each test one or two.”
The result, Eller says, is relevant data you can learn from that is directly applicable to your farm.
Similar to miles per gallon, bushels per ear make yield. Learn how to feed your yield engine.
