December 19, 2017
A couple winners in the 2017 South Dakota soybean yield contest topped 90 bushels per acre.
Tim Hofer of Hutchinson County had a 98.63 bushel per acre yield entry with the Legend Seeds variety LS29R562N. Hofer won the Master Class, a category for those who had previously broken the 100 bushel per acre yield mark in the contest.
“Some things we do on small acres to get the highest yields,” Hofer says. “Sometimes it’s not economical to do it everywhere, but we will try it on 40- to 60-acre plots.”
Kory Standy of Charles Mix County took home Overall First Place in the 2017 contest, raising 92.2 bushels per acre. He grew Asgrow variety AG2733.
“I read a lot on my own and then try different things,” says Standy, who has a subsurface irrigation system. “I added more potash this year. Next year, I’m working with my seed dealer on planting different seed group numbers. I’m also using soil moisture probes and taking live tissue samples. We’re doing what we need to do to make the plants healthy.”
Winners in the other categories were:
• Group 0 Non-Irrigated — Jerry Hofer, Lake County, 76.14 bushels per acre.
• Group 0 No-till — Arne Harstad, Roberts County, 71.75 bushels per acre.
• Group 1 Non-irrigated — Aubrey Scherff, Moody County, 77.5 bushels per acre.
• Group 1 No-till — Tom Lambert, Spink County, 74.44 bushels per acre.