Stevens, Snethen winners in National Corn Yield Contest

Dean Stevens and Cory Snethen of Falls City, have been honored as  state winners in the 20l2 National Corn Yield Contest sponsored annually by the National Corn Growers Association.

Stevens placed third in the state in the No-Till/Strip Till Non-Irrigated Class with a yield of 263.4225 bushels per acre. The hybrid used in the winning field was Hoegemeyer 8389.

Snethen placed third in the state in the A Non-Irrigated Class with a yield of 25l.8501 bushels per acre. The hybrid used in the winning field was Pioneer Pl498HR.

There were 42l state winners nationwide. The 2012 contest had 8,263 entries from 46 states. The average yield among national winners was 3l6.3 bushels per acre. Nine of the national winners recorded yields of 300 bushels or more per acre. NCGA Chairman Garry Niemeyer, a corn grower from Auburn, IL, said  the top yield in the contest was 384.4 bushels per acre,  achieved by David Hula of Charles City, VA.

Data gleaned from the contest:
Average planting population for the national winners was 37,94l seeds per acre, compared to 33,532 for all entrants.

National winners applied an average of 273 pounds of nitrogen, 82 pounds of phosphorus and 115 pounds of potassium per acre.

Average commercial nitrogen use per bushel of yield was 0. 87 pounds for national winners and 0.90 pounds for all entries.

Fifty percent of national winners applied trace minerals, compared to 36 percent of all entrants.

Use of manure as a fertilizer was consistent. Seventeen percent of national winners applied manure, compared to l6 percent of all entrants.

The national Corn Yield Contest began in l965 with 20 entries from three states. The highest overall yield was 2l8.09 bushels per acre, while the national average yield was in the mid-60-bushel range.

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