For the first time in the history of the South Dakota Soybean Yield Contest, three farmers broke the 100-bushel-per-acre yield mark.

Scott McKee, Union County, took home Overall First Place with a yield of 110.85 bushels per acre, breaking his previous record of 106.61 bushels per acre from last year’s contest. McKee grew Asgrow variety AG2733.

Zachary McKee, also Union County, took home the Overall Second Place award with a soybean yield of 109.26 bushels per acre with Pioneer variety P25T51R.

Tim Hofer, Hutchinson County, won first place in his category with a yield of 104.83 bushels per acre. Hofer planted Legend variety 27R542N.

“We really had an exceptional year,” McKee says. “I’ve never had such tall beans. The weather was great. We got timely rains and missed the storms. We also didn’t have any aphids. Everything just went according to plan.”

Entries were categorized by soybean maturity and subdivided into three groups — irrigated, nonirrigated and no-till. First-place winners, their yields, county, soybean maturity group and production category are:
• Eugene Johnson: 90.8 bushels/acre, Moody County, Group 0, nonirrigated
• Brian Johnson: 81.33 bushels/acre, Spink County, Group 0, no-till
• Adam Wiese: 85.52 bushels/acre, Moody County, Group 0 or 1, irrigated
• Adam Wiese: 91.7 bushels/acre, Moody County, Group 1, nonirrigated
• Sam Waldner: 80.8 bushels/acre, Beadle County, Group 1, no-till
• Scott McKee: 110.85 bushels/acre, Union County, Group 2, nonirrigated
• Tim Hofer: 104.83 bushels/acre, Hutchinson County, Group 2, no-till
• Joey Waldner: 97.91 bushels/acre, Beadle County, Group 2 or 3, irrigated
• Scott McKee: 101.19 bushels/acre, Union County, Group 3, nonirrigated
• Brent Lieferman: 91.51 bushels/acre, Brule County, Group 3, no-till

CONTEST WINNER: Scott McKee (left) accepts his 2016 South Dakota Soybean Yield Contest award from South Dakota Soybean Association President Jerry Schmitz at the Soybean Recognition Banquet. McKee harvested a record yield of 110.85 bushels per acre. (Photo: South Dakota Soybean)

Each first-place winner received a $2,000 cash prize and $2,000 toward a non-transferable trip for two to the 2017 Commodity Classic in San Antonio, Texas. The second-place winner in each category received a $1,500 cash prize, and the third-place winner in each category received a $1,000 cash prize.

See all the results from the yield contest online. 

High yield secrets revealed
The South Dakota Soybean Yield Contest was created to encourage farmers to try new production practices to push the yield envelope. The contest recognizes top contest performers for their efforts to give other farmers ideas for what may work on their farms.

“This allows us to collect information to see what works,” says Jon Schaeffer, chairman of the South Dakota Soybean Yield Contest Committee. “The contest helps us identify the best management practices of top producers that we can share with other farmers so they can be as productive as possible.”

South Dakota Soybean will hold a series of meetings to share the high-yield practices of contest winners. The meetings are set for:

The meetings are set for:
• Aberdeen — Jan. 30 at the Dakota Events Center
• Watertown — Jan. 31 at the Watertown Events Center
• Mitchell — Feb. 1 at the Highland Conference Center
• Sioux Falls — Feb. 2 at the Best Western Ramkota

The meetings run from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Source: SD Soybean