After a relatively lackluster National Corn Yield Contest in 2022, growers set the world on fire this past year — with David Hula of Charles City, Va., setting another record for yield with 623.84 bushels per acre, besting a previous record he set of 616.19 bushels.
But local growers put up some impressive yields, too. Bob and Sharon Santini, who farm about 4,000 acres of corn and soybeans in Stewartsville, N.J., won first place in the Strip, Min, Mulch, Ridge-Till Non-Irrigated category with a yield of 342.4 bushels per acre. They grew Pioneer P0035AM in their plot.
“All the yields were good this year, real good. It all clicked. Some people think the smoke helped,” Bob Santini, who has been farming on his own since 1972, says with a laugh.
While he won’t give away the “magic potion” he uses for his superior yield, Santini says it starts with having good, clay, loamy soils and applying some chicken litter. “The ground here is very good, very good for yields,” he says.
He planted the plot the first week of May and harvested it at the end of October, with a rye cover crop planted afterward. “I was in there a couple of times a week, applying fertilizers, fungicides, herbicides,” he says.
“I’ve been doing this my whole life,” he says with a laugh. “It’s a farmer thing, I guess, to see that corn growing through the season. I guess somebody else would be going to a concert or something, but that’s just me on my farm. I’d sleep through a concert.”
Growing a good-yielding crop must run in the family, or maybe the area. Scott Truszkowski, who farms ground only a mile away, was right behind Santini in the same category, scoring second place with a yield of 323.75 bushels per acre, growing Dyna-Gro D55VC80RIB.
Bob Santini’s cousin Sam, also from Stewartsville, N.J., placed third in the Conventional, Non-irrigated category with 342.88 bushels per acre, growing Pioneer 14830AML.
Corey Farrens of South Solon, Ohio, got third place in the Conventional, Non-Irrigated category for Corn Belt states with a yield of 340.46 bushels per acre, growing Dekalb DKC63-91RIB.
Temple Rhodes of Centreville, Md., won the Conventional Irrigated category with a yield of 375.67 bushels per acre, growing Dekalb DKC63-91RIB.
Two local growers took second and third place in the No-Till, Non-Irrigated category. James C. Justice of New Zion, W.Va., got second place with 324.90 bushels per acre, growing Dekalb DKC62-08. Julia Rigdon of Jarrettsville, Md., got third place with 324.55 bushels per acre, growing Dekalb DKC59-82RIB.
Don Jackson of Camden, Ohio, got third place in the Strip, Min, Mulch, Ridge-Till Non-Irrigated category for Corn Belt states with a yield of 324.70 bushels per acre, growing Dekalb DKC66-06RIB.
Here’s the complete list of first-place winners by state and category from the region:
Connecticut
Conventional Non-Irrigated
Mike Logue, Woodbury, Channel 210-46STXRIB, 232.75 bushels
No-Till, Non-Irrigated
Louis Herman Lipton Somers, Channel 207-27STXRIB, 274.65 bushels
Strip, Min, Mulch, Ridge-Till Non-Irrigated
Jacob Lipton, Somers, Channel 207-27STXRIB, 267.96 bushels
No-Till Irrigated
Keith Christadore, Hampton, Channel 207-27STXRIB, 264.04 bushels
Strip, Min, Mulch, Ridge-Till Irrigated
Jeffrey M. Lipton, Somers, Channel 207-27STXRIB, 263.04 bushels
Delaware
Conventional Non-Irrigated
Bill Alfree, Middletown, Dekalb DKC65-95RIB, 309.60 bushels
No-Till, Non-Irrigated
Aaron R. Thompson, Hartly, Channel 214-78DGVT2PRIB, 271.04 bushels
Strip, Min, Mulch, Ridge-Till Non-Irrigated
Joshua R. Messick, Lincoln, Pioneer P17677AM, 262.31 bushels
No-Till Irrigated
Kenneth Stevenson III, Milton, Dekalb DKC62-70RIB, 322.81 bushels
Strip, Min, Mulch, Ridge-Till Irrigated
Mark Collins, Laurel, Dekalb DKC63-91RIB, 319.69 bushels
Conventional Irrigated
Michael Wicks, Middletown, Dyna-Gro D54VC34RIB, 312.11 bushels
Massachusetts
Conventional Non-Irrigated
Dan Llewelyn, Northfield, Channel 199-115STXRIB, 281.01 bushels
No-Till, Non-Irrigated
Wanda Llewelyn, Northfield, Channel 203-70TRERIB, 309.08 bushels
Strip, Min, Mulch, Ridge-Till Non-Irrigated
Pat Wysocki, Hadley, Channel 203-70TRERIB, 244.29 bushels
No-Till, Irrigated
Gene Kosinski, Westfield, Channel 203-70TRERIB, 309.05 bushels
Strip, Min, Mulch, Ridge-Till Irrigated
Sarah Henry, Westfield, Channel 206-16SSPRIB, 287.21 bushels
Conventional, Irrigated
William Edward Llewelyn, Northfield, Channel 199-29STXRIB, 313.77 bushels
Maryland
Conventional, Non-Irrigated
Andrea Rigdon, Jarrettsville, Dekalb DKC62-70RIB, 321.75 bushels
No-Till, Non-Irrigated
Julia Rigdon, Jarrettsville, Dekalb DKC59-82RIB, 324.55 bushels
Strip, Min, Mulch, Ridge-Till Non-Irrigated
Harrison Rigdon, Jarrettsville, Dekalb DKC59-82RIB, 312.04 bushels
No-Till, Irrigated
Bruce Bartz, Denton, Dekalb DKC63-91RIB, 317.88 bushels
Strip, Min, Mulch, Ridge-Till Irrigated
Stanley Moore, Sudlersville, Axis 64B28, 301.98 bushels
Conventional Irrigated
Temple Rhodes, Centreville, Dekalb DKC63-91RIB, 375.67 bushels
Maine
Conventional, Non-Irrigated
Tyler G. Bartlett, New Gloucester, Channel 189-64VT2PRIB, 186.24 bushels
Strip, Min, Mulch, Ridge-Till Non-Irrigated
James Hilton, Norridgewock, Channel 185-30STXRIB, 203.05 bushels
No-Till, Irrigated
Matthew John Blodget, New Gloucester, Channel 189-64STXRIB, 220.04 bushels
Conventional, Irrigated
Tim Bartlett, New Gloucester, Channel 189-64VT2PRIB, 198.91 bushels
Michigan
Conventional, Non-Irrigated
Randy Eschenburg, Almont, Dekalb DKC101-35RIB, 302.16 bushels
No-Till, Non-Irrigated
Matt Scharl, Bangor, Dekalb DKC59-82RIB, 276.76 bushels
Strip, Min, Mulch, Ridge-Till Non-Irrigated
William Fein, Hopkins, Dekalb DKC59-82RIB, 288.08 bushels
No-Till, Irrigated
Scott McKeown, Middleville, Pioneer P0953AM, 306.14 bushels
Strip, Min, Mulch, Ridge-Till Irrigated
T. Jon Drozd, Allegan, Pioneer P1506YHR, 324.96 bushels
Conventional Irrigated
Jake Drozd, Allegan, Pioneer P0953AM, 347.38 bushels
New Hampshire
Conventional, Non-Irrigated
William Llewelyn, Northfield, Channel 199-11STXRIB, 280.47 bushels
No-Till, Non-Irrigated
Mary E. Llewelyn, Northfield, Channel 197-90STXRIB, 236.63 bushels
Strip, Min, Mulch, Ridge-Till Non-Irrigated
Frederick Llewelyn, Northfield, Channel 199-29STXRIB, 296.60 bushels
Conventional Irrigated
Jack Letourneau, Northfield, Channel 199-29STXRIB, 258.52 bushels
New Jersey
Conventional, Non-Irrigated
Sam Santini, Stewartsville, Pioneer P14830AML, 342.88 bushels
No-Till, Non-Irrigated
Kelly Truszkowski, Stewartsville, Dyna-Gro D54VC34RIB, 307.01 bushels
Strip, Min, Mulch, Ridge-Till Non-Irrigated
Sharon Santini, Phillipsburg, Pioneer P0035AM, 342.40 bushels
No-Till, Irrigated
Matt Santini, Phillipsburg, Pioneer P0035AM, 336.37 bushels
Strip, Min, Mulch, Ridge-Till Irrigated
Michelle M. Santini, Phillipsburg, Pioneer P0035AM, 328.15 bushels
Conventional Irrigated
Robert A. Santini Jr., Phillipsburg, Pioneer P1197AM, 290.08 bushels
New York
Conventional, Non-Irrigated
Dale McCollum, Gasport, Channel 203-70TRERIB, 276.35 bushels
No-Till, Non-Irrigated
Bernie Townsend, Canastota, Pioneer P0035Q, 251.91 bushels
Strip, Min, Mulch, Ridge-Till Non-Irrigated
Matthew Swede, Piffard, Dekalb DKC58-64RIB, 278.69 bushels
Strip, Min, Mulch, Ridge-Till Irrigated
Thomas W. Jeffres, Wyoming, Pioneer P0947Q, 277.14 bushels
Conventional Irrigated
Paul Campbell, Nichols, Dekalb DKC56-65RIB, 235.84 bushels
Ohio
Conventional, Non-Irrigated
Corey Farrens, South Solon, Dekalb DKC63-91RIB, 340.46 bushels
No-Till, Non-Irrigated
Lori Dauch, Bellevue, Pioneer P1197AM, 312.38 bushels
Strip, Min, Mulch, Ridge-Till Non-Irrigated
Don Jackson, Camden, Dekalb DKC66-06RIB, 324.70 bushels
No-Till, Irrigated
Luke Haerr, Springfield, Pioneer P0953AM, 314.74 bushels
Strip, Min, Mulch, Ridge-Till Irrigated
Justin Haerr, Springfield, Pioneer P1587Q, 298.92 bushels
Conventional, Irrigated
Nathan Ewing, Waverly, Pioneer P1383AM, 319.58 bushels
Pennsylvania
Conventional, Non-Irrigated
Jess A. Powell, Greenville, Dekalb DKC56-26RIB, 302.15 bushels
No-Till, Non-Irrigated
Zach Alger, Annville, Dekalb DKC66-06RIB, 318.34 bushels
Strip, Min, Mulch, Ridge-Till Non-Irrigated
Daryl L. Alger, Lebanon, Dekalb DKC66-06RIB, 319.04 bushels
No-Till, Irrigated
Dawson Mast, Morgantown, Pioneer P1136AM, 299.12 bushels
Strip, Min, Mulch, Ridge-Till Irrigated
Tracy J. Scipioni, Newmanstown, Pioneer P1608AM, 273.94 bushels
Conventional, Irrigated
Daryl L. Alger, Lebanon, Dekalb DKC64-22, 324.33 bushels
Vermont
No-Till, Non-Irrigated
Jacob Bourdeau, Sheldon, Pioneer P0487Q, 262.06 bushels
Strip, Min, Mulch, Ridge-Till Non-Irrigated
Rene Bourdeau, Swanton, Pioneer P9823Q, 298.03 bushels
Conventional, Irrigated
Brian Llewelyn, Northfield, Channel 199-11STXRIB, 276.47 bushels
West Virginia
Conventional, Non-Irrigated
Duncan Smith, Keyser, Pioneer P1089AM, 275.53 bushels
No-Till, Non-Irrigated
James C. Justice, New Zion, Dekalb DKC62-08, 324.90 bushels
Strip, Min, Mulch, Ridge-Till Non-Irrigated
Ronald L. Widmyer, Charles Town, Pioneer P1170AM, 206.03 bushels
No-Till, Irrigated
Todd Widmyer, Charles Town, Pioneer P1289AM, 244.19 bushels
Strip, Min, Mulch, Ridge-Till Irrigated
Grant Smith, Keyser, Pioneer P1136AM, 336.24 bushels
Conventional, Irrigated
Duncan Smith, Keyser, Pioneer P0924Q, 314.49 bushels
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