NCGA
Explains Francis Childs’ Disqualification From 2003 National
Corn Yield Contest (5-5-04)
For 38 years the nation’s top corn producers have entered
the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) National Corn Yield
Contest. Last year’s contest was no exception: more than 3,500
producers from 20 states entered, including six-time contest champion
Francis Childs, a producer from Manchester, Iowa.
Because of a procedural
error Childs was disqualified from the contest. There has been
much speculation and misinformation surrounding Childs’ disqualification.
Today, NCGA’s CEO Rick Tolman issued the following statement:
“Francis Childs, six-time winner of the National Corn Yield
Contest, was disqualified from the 2003 contest due to a procedural
error. While it is NCGA’s policy not to discuss the specifics
of any contestant’s disqualification from the contest, the
association is departing from this policy due to increasing media
attention surrounding Francis Childs’ disqualification.
The National Corn Yield Contest maintains rigorous standards and
procedures, and unfortunately, disqualifications are a part of the
contest. Each year between 10 and 20 contest entries are disqualified.
In the case of Francis
Childs’ entry, there was confusion
over which wagons were inspected. The wagons checked were not the
same wagons used to offload the combine. Francis thought four wagons
had been checked and the supervisors were aware that only two had
been inspected. When they cross-checked their information, the discrepancy
was discovered, thereby causing the contest entry to become invalid.
We hope this puts an end
to the misinformed rumors and speculation surrounding Francis Childs
and the NCGA National Corn Yield Contest.”