Francis Childs Supervisors Jason Tuel Loan Officer Trainee Citizens State Bank James Gudenkauf Vice President Citizens State Bank Tammy Schnieders Ag Ed Instructor West Delaware Schools FRANCIS CHILDS Manchester, Iowa 331.9468 BU/A Pioneer 35Y65 Harvest pop.: 43,980 Harvester: Case IH 2388 Francis Childs, who’s held the corn yield record three times, thrives on challenging himself to do better. Childs appreciates the chance his achievements give him to travel and tour and help others grow better corn. “It’s a lot of fun meeting a lot of people.” The biggest hang-up he sees impeding fellow farmers from higher yields is an unwillingness to change the way they do things. “It took me 20 years to figure out,” he concedes. And he’s still tinkering. One change this year was a switch from anhydrous ammonia to 28% liquid nitrogen, with which he used Guardian nitrogen stabilizer. “It’s definitely a safer product,” he says. Applied preplanting, it boosted yields 6 to 7 bu. with no added cost. While some other contest winners report near-perfect growing conditions, Childs says cool weather midsummer damped his yields. Some days in late July and early August yielded less than 10 growing degree days instead of the usual 25 to 30. “I’ve never seen that before.” Award-winning yields start in the plant roots, Childs asserts, noting that his corn’s roots reach down 4' into his sandy-clay soil. “If you’ve got a big root system, you have most of your problems solved right there.” To get those roots, he strives for a loose soil profile with lots of oxygen. He samples soil down 1’, then pulls a separate sample for the next 12" to 24". A plow equipped with mini-moldboards worked the soil the previous fall. Childs spoon-feeds nitrogen, with about 50 lbs. applied in fall and 200 lbs. applied preplant in spring with the first dose of the herbicide Dual. The corn got a shot of two different starter fertilizers, plus 50 lbs. of nitrogen applied after planting with the other half of the herbicide dose. Finally, a high-boy sprayer dribbled 50 to 60 lbs. when corn reached 30" tall. All told, the corn got 328 units of nitrogen and 24 units each of phosphorus and potash. Capture protected the corn from insects. Contest fields get a higher plant population and more nitrogen than noncontest fields, which are seeded at 34,000 seeds per acre.
	Supervisors Marvin Rabe Vice President First Bankers Trust Mark Wernowsky Vice President 1st Farm Credit Services Kelvin Tripplet Vice President Farm Credit Services Bill Wiewel Crop Insurance Agent American Agrisurance MARK DEMPSEY DEMPSEY FARMS Fowler, Ill. 320.2718 BU/A Garst 8424 Harvest pop.: 38,500 Harvester: Case IH 1660 “I think I did everything wrong this year, and it turned out good,” says Mark Dempsey of his first trip to the winners circle. “Even up until the day I harvested I didn’t think I had a winning entry out there. I knew it was good corn. I didn’t think it was great corn.” Dempsey thinks the field benefited from a pass with a mini moldboard plow for the previous year’s crop. He didn’t get that done before planting his winning 2004 corn. Another snafu: Rains after corn emergence kept Dempsey out of the field until the crop stretched 8" to 10" high. So his application of Bicep, Distinct and 28% nitrogen burned the corn. Still, bumping his seeding rate to 44,000 seeds to the acre, deep tillage and extra nitrogen on the contest acres are paying off. “We get yields neighbors aren’t seeing because of my participation in the contest and trying different things.” Yet, he adds, “My nitrogen (application rate) is way below the University of Illinois standards.”		Supervisors Theodore F. Bay County Extension Agent University of Wisconsin Dennis Mulrooney Vice President Peoples State Bank JoAnne Wegmuller Manager Clare Bank NA JEFF MEZERA MEZERA FARMS Bagley, Wis. 296.3143 BU/A Pioneer 34N42 Harvest pop.: 47,000 Harvester: JD 9500 The thicker Jeff Mezera seeds his cornfields, the more bushels he yields. “We just keep bumping up our population, and we keep getting better yields,” asserts this dairyman and cattle feeder. “High plant population is the key.” Mezera’s seeding rate on his winning field was 51,000. That’s the only way his contest acres differ from his other corn, where he plants only 40,000 seeds per acre. He likes to see how he measures up against other contestants and compare how various practices impact yield. For instance, he’s found his 20" rows net more income per acre. This year’s biggest challenge was lack of heat in August and torrential rains in spring that pounded the soil before the crop canopied. With some fields at a 3% to 5% slope, erosion is a concern. That’s why Mezera uses mostly minimum tillage. He deep-ripped the field the previous fall and made one pass with a field finisher, planting into soybean stubble. “High yields and good conservation practices go hand in hand. Taking care of the soil is what produces yields.”