Like University of Alabama Head Coach Nick Saban, who has won six national college football championships (one at LSU and  five at Alabama), champion corn farmers all know that success begins with the right game plan and attitude.

Saban attributes his  success to what he calls the process, which requires focusing  on the things you can control. For Saban, that means teaching his team not to be intimated by an opponent and stressing that they are responsible for their own success.

In the process, Saban emphasizes the importance of breaking things down one play at a time, telling his team that each play has a life of its own. It is more important to focus on what you have to do at every play, rather than focusing on the outcome.

Indeed, champion farmers share the same attitude. Both Virginia farmer David Hula and Georgia farmer Randy Dowdy, both who have topped  the National Corn Growers Association yield contest a number of times,  emphasize a willingness to try something new and fostering  the right attitude. And just as Saban has emphasized the importance of focusing on each play to win the game, both Hula and Dowdy stress the importance of taking care of the crop every step of the way.

Hula has said he learned the importance of a positive attitude from Francis Childs, an Iowa farmer who was one of the first to grow more than 400 bushels per acre of corn. Hula said it takes a positive attitude to be wiling to the change things or try something new to get top yields. 

Related:Micronutrient cocktail one key to record-breaking corn yields

This is the same attitude Randy Dowdy emphasizes: be willing to do things differently and be a student of the crop.  “Know what’s going on in the field, don’t hope what’s going on,” he has said.

Both Dowdy and Hula like to share their knowledge with other farmers and make numerous speeches across the country sharing what they have learned. “My goal is to teach farmers how to increase their corn or soybean yields and subsequently lower their cost per bushel and increase their ROI and profitability,” Dowdy says.

This is an attitude shared by Hula who was the keynote speaker at this year’s North Carolina Commodity Conference in Durham. He is optimistic that farmers will continue to improve their yields. “I think down the road we as producers will tap into the higher yields but it will take a team effort and favor from the good Lord,” he said.