Goal of Beck’s Practical Farm Research (PFR)® - to provide farmers with the best farmer-focused research and advisors to add profitability to the farm.

In an effort to help farmers improve profitability, Beck’s works hard to better understand the yield gap in corn and soybeans. The term yield gap has several definitions in the industry. University scientists define it as the difference between simulated potential yield using a crop model and actual yields. At Beck’s we define yield gap as the difference between record yields observed in yield contests and actual yields in our marketing areas.

For corn, we use 532 Bu./A. observed by David Hula (National Corn Growers Association 2015 National Corn Yield Contest record) as our benchmark. Our benchmark for soybeans is
161 Bu./A. as observed by Kip Cullers in 2010. These benchmarks offer clues as to the actual yield potential of modern genetics when management practices are optimized.

In some cases, the practices that led to record yields are not economical in that the costs are not paid for in additional yield. On the other hand, these yield contest practices demonstrate that there is a greater yield potential on farms across the Midwest than we commonly believed

At Beck’s Practical Farm Research (PFR)^® sites and in farmer’s fields across the Midwest, Beck’s conducts high-yield management research. In these plots, we manage the crop so that the only limiting factors are environmental such as heat, sunlight intensity, and rain for non-irrigated sites. We hope to identify new management practices that increase whole farm yield while decreasing production cost/Bu. with the data from these attempts.

The list below highlights our high-yield management practices for corn and soybeans as well as the rationale for the practices.

High-Yield Corn Management Practices

High-Yield Soybean Management Practices

To understand the benefit of these high-yield practices, Beck’s PFR conducts separate studies such as nitrogen timing, plant population, fungicide vs no-fungicide, and foliar fertilizer vs no-foliar fertilizer. The main goal of this research is to reduce yield gaps in corn and soybeans while optimizing profitability.

For more agronomic information from Beck’s PFR staff, visit the PFR Report page on BecksHybrids.com.

Practical Farm Research (PFR)^® is a registered trademark of Beck’s Superior Hybrids, Inc. ILeVO^® is a registered trademark of Bayer.