Craig Gnos Supervisors Laura Baker Program Assistant FSA David K. Lawson NCGA Representative Self-Employed Larry Clement County Extension Director University of California CRAIG GNOS E&H FARMS Dixon, Calif. 325.7328 BU/A Pioneer 31N27 Harvest Pop.: 44,000 Harvester: JD 9600 Craig Gnos feels like he has arrived. “We’ve been entering the contest since 1997, and now we finally got to where we wanted to go,” says Gnos, who placed third in this category last year. Boosting planting population played a big role in achieving a winning yield, he believes. This year, he planted 44,000 seeds per acre, up from 33,000 plants per acre in recent years. “We had bounced around in that 290-bu. to low-300 bu. range for a long time, but we couldn’t quite get beyond that,” he says. “We heard some of Pioneer’s varieties were doing better at high populations and figured this would be the year to give it a try.” Gnos and his field crew—Sam, Ralph, Ray, Serafin and Craig’s dad, Herman—planted the contest field in mid-March. “Timing of planting is a real key,” says Gnos. “We’ve had years where we thought it was warm enough to go ahead and plant and then the weather turned cool on us,” he says. “That put us behind right at the start and we never caught back up. You can’t get in there too quickly.” This year’s contest field was planted to bell peppers the year before. As soon as that crop came off, Gnos disked the field and put on 300 lbs. of 6-20-20. At planting, he injected 50 gal. per acre of 8-24-6 and also put on 45 gal. of UAN 32%. When corn reached knee-high, he sidedressed with another 45 gal. of UAN 32%. He also cultivated the crop at that point. Just before tasseling, Gnos applied NH3 through irrigation water. Water management was another major part of Gnos’ approach. To get the corn off to a good start, he put on an initial shot of water (furrow irrigation) immediately after planting. When the crop reached waist-high, he stated irrigating at 10-day intervals, continuing until corn reached full dent. For all his efforts, Gnos believes great weather spelled the difference between this year’s crop and entries in previous years. “This year, we had a cool spring and just about ideal conditions at planting time,” he says. “Around pollination, the temperatures stayed consistent. We didn’t have those stretches where they’d spike for a few days, back off and then spike again.” Craig views the contest as a team-building activity. “Our employees really get excited about it,” he says. “They take a lot of pride in doing their jobs well and want to show other people what we can do.”
	Supervisors Juanita M. Huerta Conservationist NRCS Carol Frate County Extension Agent California University Elizabeth Palmer Conservationist NRCS Albert Coronel Ag Inspector Tulare Co. Ag Commission TOM AND RON CLARK CLARKLIND FARMS Tulare, Calif. 303.9902 BU/A Pioneer 32W86 Harvest Pop.: 34,000 Harvester: Case IH 2188 Cousins Tom and Ron Clark take an “aw shucks” attitude toward this year’s yield of nearly 304 bu. an acre. “It was just one of those years where everything seemed to fall into place,” says Ron. Favorable weather allowed the Clarks to get into the field early, planting on March 19. When the corn was just 3" to 4" high, they cultivated, then followed with a sidedressing of 200 units NH3. “With our arid climate, the corn really gets going as soon as it comes out of the ground,” says Ron. “You have to be right on top of it.” The Clarks flood-irrigated with one-half acre foot of water on April 20. From mid-May through early August, they flood-irrigated every nine days. They calculate total water usage at four acre water feet. Most impressive to the Clarks was the performance of Pioneer 32W86. “We saw a lot of things we liked,” says Ron. “It came out of the ground well in our contest plots, it stayed green and it stood well.”		Supervisors Dan Noble Vice President Zion’s Bank Rod Linder AVP/Loan Officer Zion’s Bank Charles R. Taylor Loan Officer Zion’s Bank KEVIN J. WEILMUNSTER WEILMUNSTER FARMS Parma, Idaho 298.2649 BU/A Pioneer 34N43 Harvest Pop.: 35,000 Harvester: JD 9650 Kevin Weilmunster is a strong candidate for rookie of the year honors. Not only did he capture third place his first time out, he came within an eyelash of topping 300 bu. per acre. “That was our goal,” he says. “If we had done a few things differently, we might have made it.” Weilmunster and his dad, Jon, planted the contest entry April 20. “We probably could have gone in 10 days earlier,” he says. “We had very good moisture and the soil was good and warmed up.” Selecting a good hybrid was part of Weilmunster’s winning formula. “It’s a newer variety, so we weren’t quite sure what to expect,” he says. “It certainly did the job.” A solid fertility program was another important component. Along with nitrogen, phosphate and potash, he applied 10 lbs. zinc, 5 lbs. manganese, 1 lb. copper and 1 lb. of boron just before planting. “We pay a lot of attention to micronutrients,” he says. “We want the corn to have everything it needs right off the bat so it can get up and get going.”