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| Nebraska farmer
Chad Yaw won the No-Till/Strip-Till Irrigated Class of last
year’s National Corn Yield Contest with
a yield of 314.26 bushels per acre. |
Final
Corn Yield Contest Deadline is Aug. 1 (7-23-04)
With the fall
harvest season just around the corner, corn farmers across the
country are sizing up their crop and
speculating about
yield potential. Some experts predict another record crop and record
yields, but others say it’s too early to tell. While no one
knows exactly how this year’s crop will play out, one thing
is certain – growers are in for another exciting National
Corn Growers Association (NCGA) National Corn Yield Contest (NCYC).
The final deadline
for the contest is Aug. 1. NCGA, which added a new online tool this
year to make registering for the contest even easier, said entries
are
coming in at a record pace.
Chad Yaw, who
took first place in the No-Till/Strip-Till Irrigated Class last
year with a yield of 314.26 bushels per
acre, said he’s
hoping this season’s crop will be another winner. “We’ve
been doing pretty good so far, even though there’s been some
bad weather here,” said Yaw, who farms near Imperial in southwestern
Nebraska. “There was some bad hail that came through here
last week and it just missed us. We’ve been lucky.”
Yaw, who’s been entering the NCYC for about 15 years, said
his longtime seed representative got him involved in the contest. “It
was something our district (seed) sales manager got us into,” he
said. “We always had pretty good yields and he suggested
we try entering the contest.”
Yaw said he’s learned new production methods and innovative
techniques by attending annual trade shows like NCGA’s Commodity
Classic. “Going to the shows helps a lot,” he said. “It’s
really interesting to see what other farmers are doing and see
what might work best for you.”
Unlike many
entrants, Yaw doesn’t grow a specific contest
plot. Instead, he combs his fields for the spots that are likely
to produce the highest yields. “We don’t really grow
a special plot,” said Yaw, who farms corn, wheat and pinto
beans with his father. “We just go out and try to find the
best spot in the field and go from there. You have to wait and
see where your best corn is going to be, because sometimes corn
that you think looks good early can really fall off on you.”
For more information or to enter the contest, contact Judy Hall
at (636) 733-9004, ext. 129, or click on https://cyc.ncga.com.