 |
| Donny
Carpenter, pictured with son Landon, won the irrigated class
of the 2003 National Corn Yield Contest. This year, Carpenter
entered the irrigated class and the no-till/strip-till irrigated
class.
|
Submit
Your Corn Yield Contest Entry Form by July 1 to Save Money
(6-30-04)
Every successful corn
farmer knows timing is everything. Planting too early can lead to
emergence problems, but planting too late often means reduced yields.
Knowing the right time to plant, apply fertilizer and begin the
harvest often means the difference between a bin-busting crop and
a mediocre return.
The best farmers also
know the perfect time to enter the National Corn Growers Association
(NCGA) National Corn Yield Contest (NCYC) is right now. Growers
whose entry forms are postmarked on or before July 1 pay just $65
to enter the nation’s top agriculture production competition.
Entries postmarked after July 1 will be assessed an $85 registration
fee. The final deadline is Aug. 1.
And for those growers
who won’t be able to make it to the post office by the July
1 deadline, NCGA now offers an online entry tool at www.ncga.com.
With more ways to register, entering the contest has never been
easier.
Donny Carpenter, who
won the irrigated class of the 2003 contest with an eye-popping
yield of 314.8 bushels per acre, submitted his registration forms
for this year’s competition just last week to avoid the increased
fee.
“The contest has
definitely been worthwhile for us,” said Carpenter, who farms
near Dimmit, Texas. “It helps you and gives you an incentive
to do a better job as a farmer.”
On the advice of his
seed rep, Carpenter first entered the contest in 2000. He placed
third in the ridge-till irrigated class that year and has been entering
ever since. “My Pioneer rep got me involved,” he said.
“Pioneer treats you great and offers a lot of perks for being
involved.”
Unlike many NCYC entrants,
Carpenter doesn’t grow a special contest plot. Instead, he
prepared all of his corn acreage using the same techniques and inputs.
“We go for consistency across the entire farm,” he said.
“We don’t have a specific plot for the contest, and
that makes the whole farm better.”
Carpenter said his corn
is progressing well so far this summer and he’s optimistic
about another trip to the NCYC winner’s circle. “It
looks outstanding so far,” he said. “Our corn is pollinating
and that’s really the most critical stage. It’s tough
to say how things will turn out, but so far it looks wonderful.
My main goal is to always do a little better than we did the year
before.”
For more information
or to obtain an entry form, call Judy Hall at (636) 733-9004, ext.
129.
To register for the contest
online, click here.