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Kevin Matthews, North Carolina soybean farmer, broke the 100-bushel barrier again in 2018.

John Hart, Associate Editor

January 23, 2019

3 Min Read
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Yadkin County farmer Kevin Matthews broke the 100-bushel-per-acre yield barrier for the second year in a row in 2018, earning him first place in the North Carolina soybean yield contest for the second straight year with a yield of 104.5 bushels per acre.

In winning the 2017 yield contest, Matthews, owner of Matthews Family Farm, became the first North Carolina soybean farmer to make a yield of more than 100 bushels per acre in the soybean yield contest with a yield of 107.4 bushels per acre, which bested the old contest record by 14.1 bushels per acre.

For his 2018 award-winning entry of 104.5 bushels per acre, Matthews planted Pioneer 46A16R on April 21 at a rate of 140,000 seeds per acre. He planted full-season beans using no-till practices on irrigated land in 20-inch rows.

Matthews accepted the award at the 30th North Carolina Commodities Conference in Durham.

At the awards presentation, Dr. Rachel Vann, North Carolina State University Extension soybean specialist, noted that 2018 was a tough year for soybean production across the state with drought, hurricanes and an excessively wet fall.

Because of the challenging weather, entries were down in 2018 at 24 from 14 counties. “Harvest windows were narrow this year. I don’t think people were slowing down to measure soybean yield contest plots, but nonetheless we had some impressive entries,” Vann said.

Of the 24 entries, 18 showed yields above 70 bushels per acre. Average yield of the 18 entries was 74 bushels per acre, which was 1.8 bushels per acre lower than the 2017 contest average.

Vann said 93 percent of the entries were planted on narrow-rows at 20 inches or less. She said 86 percent of the entries planted Maturity Groups III or IV while 93 percent were full-season soybeans.

Additionally, 86 percent used foliar fungicide and 80 percent used foliar fertilizer.

In the contest, the highest yield in the Northern Coastal Plain Region was 82.4 bushels per acre from Sharp Farms, Inc. in Wilson County. They planted Dyna-Gro 48XS78 full-season beans at 150,000 seeds per acre on May 5 in 36-inch twin-rows.

The highest yield in the Southern Coastal Plain Region was 84 bushels per acre by Locklear Brothers Farms in Robeson County. They planted Pioneer 52A26R at 110,000 seeds per acre full-season under strip-tillage on May 24 in 30-inch rows.

For the Tidewater Region, there was a tie for top yielder. James Allen from Washington County achieved a yield of 91.5 bushels per acre with the variety AgriGold planted in 15-inch rows at 125,000 seeds per acre on April 27. Doug and Billy Mercer of Pasquotank County also made 91.5 bushels per acre with the variety Pioneer 38T42 planted full-season at 100,000 seeds per acre April 3.

For the Southern Piedmont Region, top honors went to Johnny Moore of Iredell County with a yield of 94 bushels per acre. Moore planted UniSouth Genetics USC 7487XT at 140,000 seeds per acre no-till, full-season on May 11 in 15-inch rows.

For Most Efficient Yield in the state, Temple Family Farms in Pasquotank County earned top honors at a cost of $4.75 per bushel. They planted Pioneer 53T18X double-crop under no-till at 163,000 seeds per acre on June 15 in 7.5-inch row spacing.

About the Author(s)

John Hart

Associate Editor, Southeast Farm Press

John Hart is associate editor of Southeast Farm Press, responsible for coverage in the Carolinas and Virginia. He is based in Raleigh, N.C.

Prior to joining Southeast Farm Press, John was director of news services for the American Farm Bureau Federation in Washington, D.C. He also has experience as an energy journalist. For nine years, John was the owner, editor and publisher of The Rice World, a monthly publication serving the U.S. rice industry.  John also worked in public relations for the USA Rice Council in Houston, Texas and the Cotton Board in Memphis, Tenn. He also has experience as a farm and general assignments reporter for the Monroe, La. News-Star.

John is a native of Lake Charles, La. and is a  graduate of the LSU School of Journalism in Baton Rouge.  At LSU, he served on the staff of The Daily Reveille.

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