Bill (left) and Don Wright Supervisors Matt Kelley Loan Officer Colorado State Bank Vicky Gowin Crop Insurance Agent CSB Insurance Tim Hume Past President NCGA John T. James Loan Officer Colorado State Bank BILL WRIGHT WRIGHT FARMS Walsh, Colo. 315.6104 BU/A Pioneer 33B51 Harvest Pop.: 39,500 Harvester: JD 9650 Bill Wright is on quite a roll. Two years ago, he produced a thirdplace finish in this category with a yield of 264 bu. per acre. Last year, he upped his yield to 278 bu. per acre—good enough for second place. This year, he finds himself on top the heap with an eye-popping 315 bu. per acre. “It was better than we ever imagined we could do.” For this year’s contest entry, Wright and his brother, Don, stuck to the basics that brought success in the past. They set the stage for a high-yielding crop by applying 220 units of nitrogen the previous fall. At planting on April 17, they applied 1 lb. zinc per acre and 6 gal. of 10-34-0 in the furrow. For a hybrid, the brothers chose Pioneer’s 33B51 for the third year in a row. “It really fits our country out here well,” says Bill. “It’s not a real long-season variety. But it produces high yields, has good dry-down and shows some stalk strength. That’s important out here because we can get a lot of wind.” Bill and Don pushed up planting population to 40,000 seeds per this year. Last year, they planted 37,000 seeds per acre. “When you’re going after this kind of yields, you have to have enough plants to make enough ears,” Bill says. To control weeds, the brothers applied 2 oz. of Distinct, 0.75 oz. of Steadfast and 0.5 lb. of atrazine when corn was 6" tall. They also cultivated once, when corn was 18" to 2' tall. Monitoring moisture was another key component of the game plan. From late June through the first week of September, they irrigated every 12 to 14 days. They scouted the field once a week and used a probe to determine water needs. “We try to keep a 6' profile of water for corn,” says Bill. Mother Nature provided a boost. “We had 17" of rain this year and 7" in June alone,” Bill notes. “That’s two to three times as much as we normally get in June. It was great. You can do a lot of things right, but a little help from the good Lord doesn’t hurt.” Where do you go once you reach the top? “I always said that once we hit 300 bu. we’d quit,” Bill laughs. “But Don won’t hear of it. We’re already planning for next year.”
	Supervisors Francis A. Breeding IPM Consultant University of Md. Linda D. Slacum County Executive Director FSA Paul L. Gunther County Extension Director University of Md. MICHAEL R. BOSTIC JR. Church Hill, Md. 283.9417 BU/A Pioneer 33B51 Harvest Pop.: 31,300 Harvester: JD 9650 STS Winning contest entries are becoming a family tradition at the Bostics. "My dad (Michael Sr.) won a third-place in the No-Till Irrigated category a few years back,” says Michael Jr. “Now I can do a little kidding about one-upping him.” The kidding won’t likely go too far, though. “He taught me everything I know about growing corn. I’m pretty lucky to be spending so much time around one of the best.” A “great” weather year made it easier for the 21-year-old to follow in dad’s footsteps. “He’s always telling me that the secret to growing good corn is to keep it nice and damp, but not too damp, and to fertilize, but not too much,” Bostic says. “This year, we got rains when we needed them, so we didn’t have to overdo it on irrigation. Having poultry manure (3 tons per acre spread last winter) available also helped.” Bostic says the contest is valuable to someone just starting out in farming. “It keeps you looking forward,” he says. “And it gives you an idea of how you’re doing compared to the best growers in the country.”		Supervisors Jesse L. Carman Crop Consultant Servi-Tech Inc. Gabe Hardman Crop Specialist Servi-Tech Inc. Chris B. Riha Accredited Farm Manager Retired JOHN WILLOUGHBY Wood River, Neb. 282.0375 BU/A Pioneer 33P67 Harvest Pop.: 35,000 Harvester: JD 9400 To hear John Willoughby tell it, you’d think all he did to produce 282-bu. corn this year was put the seed in the ground, sit back and watch things develop. “It was a year where everything that was planted was going to grow,” says Willoughby, who registered a second-place finish in this category two years ago. Weather was the story of the season. “We had timely rains early,” he says. “But it turned dry in August. We had to irrigate about once a week (gravity irrigation) through the first week of September.” At times, the weather was downright puzzling. “It was unusually cool, and we didn’t have a lot of sunshine,” he notes. “Heading into September, we really didn’t think we had a very good chance of doing well. I think the key was that we didn’t have a lot of hot days, so the corn wasn’t under a lot of stress.” Willoughby puts a high value on participating in the yield contest. “It makes you think all the time about what you can do better,” he says. He applied 220 units of nitrogen, 50 of phosphorus and 10 of potash.