Georgia farmer Randy Dowdy told press conference watchers yesterday that contest-winning yields start with managing corn germination and emergence so every seedling spikes out of the soil at the same time.
Dec. 20, 2016 — Randy’s 521.4-bu. yield topped the 2016 National Corn Growers Association Corn Yield Contest for the strip-till irrigated division. Delta Farm Press has the details.
For a more complete description of Dowdy’s growing methods, the AgriGold website has an extended story at this link.
Also there’s an array of corn growing facts, some surprising information about soybean record yields, and significant personal inspiration at Dowdy’s own website, http://www.growbigcorn.com
The “winning formula” of top corn contest participants varies widely. But all of them find ways to encourage uniform germination, emergence, and season-long crop health by fine-tuning nutrition. Dowdy banded, starting on both sides of the seed row. Note the photo on the Delta Farm Press story: The corn behind Randy still has a lot of green leaves, indicating the crop was pumping kernel depth and test weight all the way through to its full maturity.