At a freakish 218.2856 bushels per acre, Alex Harrell fired the soybean shot heard round the farm world. Mind-blowing yield. On Aug. 13, Harrell eclipsed his own world record of 206.7997 bushels, set in 2023. Back to back, he has grown the highest yielding soybeans in agriculture history.
The southwest Georgia farmer cut a bin-busting 218 bushels in the Georgia Soybean Production Contest. “At harvest, I thought I was in the ballpark of last year’s 206, but I never thought it’d be so high,” Harrell explains. “It’s an incredible result, but it’s a whole different story from last year.”
Changing the Formula
On 4,000 acres in Lee County, Harrell, 34, grows corn, soybeans, watermelons, and wheat. In 2024, a year after recording outrageous yields and breaking the 200-bushel barrier, Harrell aimed for the bull’s-eye again, but determined to change gears across the entire setup.
On March 21, he punched a Pioneer P49Z02E variety (4.9 maturity group) at a 110,000-planting population into red clay watered by center pivot irrigation on the opposite end of the county from his previous year’s success.
Harrell was searching for a repeat performance in a separate environment, other than maintaining 30” rows. “Starting off, we used less preplant chicken litter,” he describes. “I used a different genetic trait and different herbicide trait—pretty much different everything, but still shot for the same result.”
Or far better.
Harrell ran double strip till at planting. First, a deep pass. Second, a shallow pass with banded fertility in front of the planter. “We still ran in-furrow, and 3-x-3 fertility on the planter; we sprayed pre-emerge herbicide out the back. Basically, we had four things going out at planting: seed, an in-furrow mix, a 3-x-3 mix, and a herbicide mix broadcast out the back.””
“We utilized Enlist. We used weekly tissue sampling, then Y-dropped and foliar fed accordingly. Again, almost everything changed from 2023 (Asgrow 48X9).”
Grain Fill Glory
At planting, Harrell chose five fields to push high-yield soybeans. Ten days after planting, Harrell scratched four of the fields from high-yield production due to emergence timing. “My loamy, lighter dirt, usually the easiest to get a stand with, had just got too much rain and it sealed over and couldn’t breathe. But the red clay, usually the hardest to get a good stand on, got the right rain, and didn’t seal up. The red clay field had the best emergence and spacing as I’ve ever seen.”
At emergence, Harrell detected potential for major yield numbers. Absolutely no skips or doubles. Final stand of 105,000. “Literally, it was the best singulation I’ve ever seen.”
At August harvest, with his father, Rodney, watching as the yield tally climbed, Harrell hit 218.2856 bushels per acre on 2.58 acres, with the remainder of the field well north of 100 bpa. The record soybeans averaged almost 3.1 beans per pod. His 2023 average was 2.8 beans per pod. “First time ever—we had more 4’s than 2’s.”
In 2023, Harrell defined his first high-yield record breaker by late-season management. In 2024, what high-yield factors were most important?
“This was about getting the beans in early, having them bloom, going though grain fill during the longest days of the year, and increasing seed size,” he says. “It was also about keeping the nutrition balanced, keeping fertilizer levels up, and giving PGRs a big part. We never missed an opportunity to have an application made this year, but last year, we missed a couple of windows and were a few days behind, and that cost us bushels.”
Not this time. Harrell was spot-on. “The beans got what they needed on the day needed,” he says. “No delays.”
Indeed. After all the agronomics are dissected and the numbers parsed, the reality is simple. In 2024, Harrell grew the highest yielding soybeans in the history of the world.
“You hope and you can tell a field is going to be special,” he adds. “But 218? I’m overwhelmed.”
For more articles from Chris Bennett (cbennett@farmjournal.com or 662-592-1106), see:
Corn and Cocaine: Roger Reaves and the Most Incredible Farm Story Never Told
American Gothic: Farm Couple Nailed In Massive $9M Crop Insurance Fraud
Priceless Pistol Found After Decades Lost in Farmhouse Attic
Cottonmouth Farmer: The Insane Tale of a Buck-Wild Scheme to Corner the Snake Venom Market
Power vs. Privacy: Landowner Sues Game Wardens, Challenges Property Intrusion
Tractorcade: How an Epic Convoy and Legendary Farmer Army Shook Washington, D.C.
