Dan Arkels, a record-setting soybean and corn farmer from Central Illinois, will headline the 2017 Agronomy Session at Delaware Ag Week in Harrington.

Arkels will speak Thursday, Jan. 12 from 10:40 to noon. Ag Week is organized annually by the Delaware Cooperative Extension Service and features educational tracks on different commodities each day. Ag Week is held at the Delaware State Fairgrounds in Harrington.

Arkels, who was the first Illinois grower to harvest a verified 103.9 bushels of soybeans per acre in 2014, is a big believer in the high-yield potential of soybeans. As he harvested the winning field, his yield monitor fluctuated between 90 and 130 bushels.

His current goal? Harvesting a 150-bushel field. “I think 200 bushels is attainable,” he says.

Arkels’ appearance is sponsored by the Delaware Soybean Board. Delaware soybean growers harvested an average 40 bushels per acre in 2015, the last season for which statistics are available. Winners of the statewide yield contest have reached much higher, with the 2015 winner Dale Blessing harvesting 82.08 bushels of irrigated full-season beans.

 “One of the priorities of the Delaware Soybean Board is to increase soybean yield,” says Jay Baxter, chairman of the Delaware Soybean Board. “One way to do that is to give growers opportunities to learn from others and see what techniques and strategies can be applied to Delaware fields.”

Delaware farmers plant about 180,000 acres of soybeans each year, and the crop generates approximately $60 million in value to the state. Delaware’s agricultural industry contributes about $8 billion per year to the Delaware economy.