Kansas Farmer Logo

Noll family breaks record in 2024 Kansas Corn Yield ContestNoll family breaks record in 2024 Kansas Corn Yield Contest

#Grow24’s Alex and Traci Noll take top honors in dryland and irrigated contests.

+1
Jennifer M. Latzke, Mindy Wardand 1 more

January 17, 2025

6 Slides
 Noll’s corn crop started in May and June of the season

Already have an account?

THE BEGINNING: Alex Noll of Winchester, Kan., broke the dryland corn record in the 2024 Kansas Corn Yield Contest with his entry of DEKALB DKC68-35RIB, harvesting 340.39 bushels per acre. Looking back through our #Grow24 posts, we see how Noll’s corn crop started in May and June of the season. Timely rains got the corn off to a good start. Photos by Alex Noll

It was a bin-busting year for Kansas Corn Yield Contest winners Alex and Traci Noll of Jefferson County, Kan.

Alex broke the Kansas Corn Yield Contest record with his 2024 dryland entry of DEKALB DKC68-35RIB, harvesting 340.39 bushels per acre. And Traci took the top overall irrigated entry in the state contest with a yield of 328.98 bushels per acre with a field of DEKALB DKC66-06RIB. Both entries were located in Doniphan County.

Readers also may remember the Nolls were featured in our #Grow24 series this past summer, following their crop’s progress from plant to harvest.

Alex has been entering the contest since 2013, and he says he sets himself goals for the crop each year that build upon what he learned the year before. He broke the 300-bushel mark he set for himself in 2021 on irrigated corn and in 2023 on dryland corn. In 2024, his goal was to break the 325-bushel mark that would merit a verification recheck by contest organizers. “I use the contest to see how far I can push myself and my operation,” he says.

Alex says finding a group of like-minded farmers who are a sounding board for ideas to improve their crops has been a big key to his family’s success. “Kevin Kalb with the [Midwest Advanced Crop Consulting] group is one,” he says. Although not every product on the market will work in his fields, or every technique, he says there’s a lot to be learned by talking about new ideas with a farmer cohort.

Related:Minimize risk to corn seedlings this spring

Another thing that’s really helped the Nolls is investing in their own high-crop ground-spray rig to help get timely application and full coverage for fungicides. “Especially with tar spot coming in and other disease pressures,” he says, “the disease control and plant health and stress mitigation of those products is crucial.”

Kansas Corn reports that 23 contest entries broke the 300-bushel mark in the 2024 contest. The state and district winners will be recognized at the Kansas Corn Symposium on Jan. 30 at the Salina Hilton Garden Inn in Salina, Kan.

“This year’s state contest broke multiple records, including highest irrigated yield and number of entries above 300 bushels per acre,” Emily Koop, director of grower services and market development, said in a statement. “This is truly a testament to the hard work of our growers and the innovation of our industry. This year, we also awarded honors to our first Nitrogen Management Class, a group of farmers who showcased that they truly can continue to grow more with less.”

Richard Sudbeck of Nemaha County won the inaugural Kansas Corn Yield Contest Nitrogen Management Class with a dryland yield of 256.7091 bushels per acre. Although this is the second year for the Nitrogen Management Class in the National Corn Yield Contest, this was the first year to include the special class in the Kansas state contest. This class was established to showcase opportunities to think differently about fertilizer management while still achieving high yields.

Related:How will corn fare in cool, wet soils?

The Kansas Corn Yield Contest is sponsored by Kansas Corn and K-State Research and Extension. The state contest awards dryland and irrigated winners in 10 districts and a Nitrogen Management Class winner, along with one statewide dryland and one statewide irrigated winner.

The Kansas Corn Yield Contest was created to recognize high-yielding Kansas corn farmers and gain information to improve practices and increase efficiency for greater sustainability and profitability. Sharing the data collected among Kansas farmers benchmarks the corn yields and provides information for improving management practices.

2024 Kansas Corn Yield Contest results

Other results in the Kansas Corn Yield Contest included:

Northwest, District 1

Irrigated: First place, Taylor Brack, Sherman County, 282.55 bu./acre, Pioneer P1366Q; second place, Ryan Miller, Sheridan County, 262.23 bu./acre, Pioneer P1366Q; third place, Calvin Ochs, Sheridan County, 255.1 bu./acre, Pioneer P1366AML.

Related:Why 105-day corn doesn’t mature in mid-August

West Central, District 2

Irrigated: First place, Luke Smith, Wichita County, 295.45 bu./acre, Pioneer P1366AML.

Southwest, District 3

Dryland: First place, David Walker, Stanton County, 113.35 bu./acre, Pioneer P1122AML.

Irrigated: First place, Grant Webber, Haskell County, 324.79 bu./acre, Pioneer P1718AML; second place, John Borth, Meade County, 321.67 bu./acre, Pioneer P1718AML; third place, Grant Webber, Haskell County, 320.87 bu./acre, Pioneer P1828Q.

North Central, District 4

Dryland: First place, Jacob Fritschi, Marshall County, 264.84 bu./acre, Pioneer P13050AM; second place, Rod Stewart, Washington County, 227.81 bu./acre, Pioneer P13050AM; third place, Ryan Stewart, Washington County, 223.77 bu./acre, Pioneer P1548AM.

Irrigated: First place, Taylar Bohl, Smith County, 321.74 bu./acre; DEKALB DKC70-27RIB; second place, Todd Cyr, Cloud County, 302.29 bu./acre, DEKALB DKC70-27RIB; third place, Darah Bohl, Smith County, 301.67 bu./acre, DEKALB DKC70-27RIB.

Central, District 5

Dryland: First place, Troy Dawson, Marion County, 231.53 bu./acre, Pioneer P0995AM; second place, Matthew Goering, McPherson County, 189.06 bu./acre, Beck’s Hybrids 6414VT2P.

Irrigated: First place, Brett Froese, McPherson County, 298.81 bu./acre, Pioneer P14830AML.

South Central, District 6

Dryland: First place, Aaron Pauly, Sedgwick County, 169.88 bu./acre, DEKALB DKC68-35RIB; second place, Kyle Smith, Sumner County, 101.86 bu./acre, Beck’s Hybrids 6414VT2P.

Irrigated: First place, Sam Miller, Reno County, 304.09 bu./acre, Pioneer P14830AML; second place, Daniel Kelly, Reno County, 253.59 bu./acre, Beck’s Hybrids 6973TCV2P; third place, Matthew Flora, Pratt County, 219.1558, Beck’s Hybrids 6774V2P.

Northeast, District 7

Dryland: First place, Jeff Koelzer, Pottawatomie County, 323.12 bu./acre, DEKALB DKC68-34RIB; second place, David Koelzer, Pottawatomie County, 308.42 bu./acre, DEKALB DKC68-35RIB; third place, Glenn Heinen, Nemaha County, 302.83 bu./acre, Pioneer P1511AM.

Irrigated: First place, Alex Noll, Jefferson County, 317.55 bu./acre, DEKALB DKC68-35RIB; second place, Craig Gigstad, Jefferson County, 308.79 bu./acre, DEKALB DKC68-35RIB; third place, Galen and Glen Grimm, 305.34 bu./acre, Pioneer P1170AM.

East Central, District 8

Dryland: First place, Parker Meats, Coffey County, 277.46 bu./acre, DEKALB DKC68-35RIB; second place, Michael Sudbeck, Douglas County, 275.92 bu./acre, Golden Harvest G17E95-3110; third place, Joe Heathman, 274.37 bu./acre, Taylor Seed Farms 8824.

Southeast, District 9

Dryland: First place, Roy Hervey, Cowley County, 291.06 bu./acre, LG Seeds LG 69C03; second place, Bradley McVey, Wilson County, 232.56 bu./acre, DEKALB DKC68-35RIB; third place, Andrew Sarley, Crawford County, 217.69 bu./acre, DEKALB DKC62-70RIB.

North Northeast, District 10

Dryland: First place, Alex Noll, Doniphan County, 340.39 bu./acre, DEKALB DKC68-35RIB; second place, Austin Taylor, Doniphan County, 330.83 bu./acre, Taylor Seed Farms 2213; third place, Devin Taylor, Doniphan County, 320.07 bu./acre, Taylor Seed Farms 6015.

Irrigated: First place, Traci Noll, Doniphan County, 328.98 bu./acre, DEKALB DKC66-06RIB.

Nitrogen Management Class

Dryland: First place, Richard Sudbeck, Nemaha County, 256.71 bu./acre, Golden Harvest G11V76-AA; second place, Robert Henry, Brown County, 255.51 bu./acre, Pioneer P1511AM; third place, Aaron Pauly, Sedgwick County, 151.64 bu./acre, Croplan Seed CP5760TRERIB.

Follow online as the next installment, #Grow25, begins this spring, following another set of Kansas and Missouri farmers as they grow their corn and soybean crops.

About the Authors

Jennifer M. Latzke

Editor, Kansas Farmer

Through all her travels, Jennifer M. Latzke knows that there is no place like Kansas.

Jennifer grew up on her family’s multigenerational registered Angus seedstock ranch and diversified farm just north of Woodbine, Kan., about 30 minutes south of Junction City on the edge of the Kansas Flint Hills. Rock Springs Ranch State 4-H Center was in her family’s backyard.

While at Kansas State University, Jennifer was a member of the Sigma Kappa Sorority and a national officer for the Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow. She graduated in May 2000 with a bachelor’s degree in agricultural communications and a minor in animal science. In August 2000 Jennifer started her 20-year agricultural writing career in Dodge City, Kan., on the far southwest corner of the state.

She’s traveled across the U.S. writing on wheat, sorghum, corn, cotton, dairy and beef stories as well as breaking news and policy at the local, state and national levels. Latzke has traveled across Mexico and South America with the U.S. Wheat Associates and toured Vietnam as a member of KARL Class X. She’s traveled to Argentina as one of 10 IFAJ-Alltech Young Leaders in Agricultural Journalism. And she was part of a delegation of AAEA: The Ag Communicators Network members invited to Cuba.

Jennifer’s an award-winning writer, columnist, and podcaster, recognized by the Kansas Professional Communicators, Kansas Press Association, the National Federation of Presswomen, Livestock Publications Council, and AAEA. In 2019, Jennifer reached the pinnacle of achievements, earning the title of “Writer of Merit” from AAEA.

Trips and accolades are lovely, but Jennifer says she is happiest on the road talking to farmers and ranchers and gathering stories and photos to share with readers.

“It’s an honor and a great responsibility to be able to tell someone’s story and bring them recognition for their work on the land,” Jennifer says. “But my role is also evolving to help our more urban neighbors understand the issues our Kansas farmers face in bringing the food and fiber to their store shelves.”

She spends her time gardening, crafting, watching K-State football, and cheering on her nephews and niece in their 4-H projects. She can be found on Twitter at @Latzke.

Mindy Ward

Editor, Missouri Ruralist

Mindy resides on a small farm just outside of Holstein, Mo, about 80 miles southwest of St. Louis.

After graduating from the University of Missouri-Columbia with a bachelor’s degree in agricultural journalism, she worked briefly at a public relations firm in Kansas City. Her husband’s career led the couple north to Minnesota.

There, she reported on large-scale production of corn, soybeans, sugar beets, and dairy, as well as, biofuels for The Land. After 10 years, the couple returned to Missouri and she began covering agriculture in the Show-Me State.

“In all my 15 years of writing about agriculture, I have found some of the most progressive thinkers are farmers,” she says. “They are constantly searching for ways to do more with less, improve their land and leave their legacy to the next generation.”

Mindy and her husband, Stacy, together with their daughters, Elisa and Cassidy, operate Showtime Farms in southern Warren County. The family spends a great deal of time caring for and showing Dorset, Oxford and crossbred sheep.

Laura Handke

Laura Handke writes from Easton, Kan.

Subscribe to receive top agriculture news
Be informed daily with these free e-newsletters

You May Also Like