The results from the National Corn Growers Assn.’s annual Corn Yield Contest were just released this week, and once again dismiss the myth that no-till yields can’t compete with tillage.
Randy Dowdy from Valdosta, Ga., once again took No. 1 in not only the No-Till/Strip-Till Irrigated category, but in the contest overall, with a yield of 521.3968 bushels. The best yield for tillage and the second best yield overall was grown by Kevin Dowdy in the Irrigated category for 501.0196 bushels.
The Dowdy family wasn’t the only ones proving no-till’s worth. In the A No-Till/Strip-Till Non-Irrigated category, Dan Gause of Scranton, S.C., had the best yield of 346.0533, just over 1 bushel shy of Heath Cuttrell’s 347.2323 yield in the A Non-Irrigated Category. But the second and third place contenders in the A No-Till/Strip-Till Non-Irrigated category out-yielded their competitors who use tillage by about 20 and 18 bushels, respectively.
Charles City, Va.’s, David Hula achieved the second best no-till yield at 485.0320, followed by Hermiston, Ontario’s, Kristen Corpus with a yield of 339.6230. Hula still holds the world corn yield record of 532.0217 bushels, which he set in 2015.
So if you’re just starting out in no-till and perhaps feeling disheartened by a yield lag or any challenges you’ve run into, I hope this helps reaffirm your decision to commit to the practice. Not to mention the input savings you’re likely seeing from eliminating tillage passes.
To see the full list of national winners, click here. To see how growers in your state performed in the contest, click here. And if you’re looking to see how you can take your no-till corn yields to the next level, check out some of the articles below.
