Rube Rhea and his two sons, Scott and Matt Rhea of Somerville, Tenn., were more than surprised when they achieved a 336-bushel-per-acre corn yield with DEKALB DKC64-69 brand this harvest season. 

“When I saw the yield monitor consistently registering between 325 and 350 bushels, I was shocked, being that this field is not irrigated,” said Scott Rhea.

“I’ve never seen numbers that big before on our dryland acreage — we’ve had them close but not up that high, and it was an exciting moment.” 

The Rhea brothers decided to plant this DEKALB product based on the recommendation of their DEKALB District Sales Manager, Joe Roberts, who shares their excitement.

“I was thrilled to death,” Roberts said. “I’ve been doing this a long time, so I think anyone in this business would have a personal goal, a bucket list, where maybe once in a lifetime you get an opportunity to win a national yield title. So it’s like winning a gold medal at the Olympics for a farm boy like me.”

Scott and Matt Rhea have entered their yield in the National Corn Growers Association 2012 National Corn Yield Contest in the Class A Non-Irrigated category. They attribute their success to the quality of DEKALB exclusive products, timely rains and rich soil and their faith in God. 

The DKC64-69 brand contains the Genuity VT Triple PRO trait, which provides dual modes of action for controlling above ground insects, including corn earworm. 

“It provided excellent insect protection. We had very minimal insect damage,” Scott Rhea said.

Despite their impressive results, the Rhea brothers are always striving to do better. 

“It would be a great accomplishment for us to win the NCGA yield title,” Matt Rhea said. “We want to set our standards higher every year. We always look back at what we did last year and say, ‘Well, I think we can do better than that.’”

The DEKALB brand has long been an important part of this fifth-generation farm family.

“My dad started planting DEKALB back when he first started farming,” Matt Rhea said. “We’ve tried other products, but they just never really competed with what DEKALB did on our farm.” 

Another Tennessee farm this season also achieved a yield of more than 300 bushels with DEKALB.

Bill Woods and his grandson, Tyler Parker, who farm in Oakfield, Tenn., harvested an impressive 304 bushels per acre with DEKALB DKC67-57 brand on irrigated acres, which they also have entered in the NCGA National Corn Yield Contest. Prior to this year, the highest yield entry from Tennessee in the NCGA National Corn Yield Contest in any category was 287 bushels per acre, according to NCGA.

Visit asgrowanddekalb.com/SuccessStories to watch video interviews with both farm families and to hear from other Southern farmers who experienced success this season growing DEKALB products.

Individual results may vary. Always follow IRM, grain marketing and all other stewardship practices and pesticide label directions.