View From The Cab

By David Tollefson, Columnist

From the mid-February 2024 issue of the Farm Journal written by Rhonda Brooks comes this incredible story of a Minnesota farm couple winning the award for non-irrigated category of the NCGA yield contest for Minnesota.  Here it is, edited for length:

In 2023, David Heublein grew a contest-winning corn yield of 314.93 bushels of corn with only 7” of rain in Minnesota.  If you wonder how that’s possible, you’re in good company.  Heublein says he is still amazed by the experience.

“We thank the good Lord for providing just enough rain to give us this yield,” says Heublein, who won the conventional, non-irrigated category of the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) yield contest for Minnesota.  He farms in the southeast corner of the state with his wife, Jennifer.

TRAIT TECH PAYS OFF

The winning entry of DKC59-82RIB was planted in a 40-acre field at the couple’s home farm near Lewiston, in Winona County, on May 1 and was harvested Oct. 11.  On the day before harvest, the U.S. Drought Monitor showed 75% of Minnesota’s corn crop, including Heublein’s, was enduring moderate (D1) to extreme (D2) drought. “I’m convinced these high-yielding hybrids with new traits are a huge reason for our success,” Heublen says.  “I’m also blessed to be surrounded with knowledgeable, caring individuals who help me make qualified decisions to better my bottom line.”

Heublein also credits his success to careful planting and harvesting practices, timely fertilizer and fungicide applications, the area’s nutrient-rich Port Byron and Mt. Carroll soils, moderate temperatures that climbed above 90 degrees F only two times during the summer and the precious inches of timely rainfall.

“We recorded 1.1” in May, 1.5” in June, 3.9” in July and just a half inch in August for a grand total of 7” for the season,” Heublein recalls.  “That was about one-third of our normal rainfall.  What these hybrids can go through with the weather we have today and still put on a good-sized ear with such kernel depth amazes me.”

Two other farms Heublein grows corn on didn’t fare well last season.  The family’s farm north of Fremont, Minn., received only 5” of total rainfall.  Their farm near Wilson, Minn., was hit with high wind and golf-ball sized hail on July 14.  As a result, corn yields on both farms tanked.

LOOKING AHEAD

Heublein says he anticipates he’ll enter the NCGA yield contest again in 2024.  He and Jennifer have competed in the annual contest since 1991.

“I like seeing how our crop compares with other corn yields across the state and the nation,” Heublein says. “Getting over 300 bu. was a real accomplishment and an incredible experience. It’s really fun to see what these hybrids can do.”

After U.S. corn production was hardly dented by back-to-back growing seasons that were the driest in a decade, Andy Heggenstaller is getting used to fielding questions about how modern varieties can still yield so much.

Growers in northern Illinois who exceeded 250 bu. per acre marvel to Heggenstaller, the head of agronomy for Syngenta Seeds, about the results.

In 2023, U.S. corn producers averaged 174.9 bu. per acre—just 1% under the record of 176.7 set two years earlier—despite below-average rainfall that rivaled the 2012 drought.  That year, production bottomed out at 123.1 bu. per acre, 20% less than the national average the previous five years.

“I do think whatever level of drought stress we’re talking about, if it happened 10 years ago versus today, the crop would withstand it better today than it would have 10 years ago,” Heggenstaller says.

Heggenstaller credits three main areas for the improvement:

• Advancements in technology

• A more robust seed selection process

• Adaptations made by farmers

DROUGHT RESEARCH

The advancements follow years of specialized drought research by numerous seed companies.

When developing its drought-tolerant artesian hybrids, Syngenta turned to its research locations in naturally parched areas in Colorado and California. Heggenstaller says researchers analyzed which hybrids performed best and identified genes associated with that stress tolerance.  The research continues today.

Bayer conducts drought studies at its Water Utilization Learning Center in Gothenburg, Neb.  Similar to a retractable roof sports stadium, the facility can detect moisture in the air and automatically close—even in the middle of the night—to keep the corn and soybean plants underneath dry.

“It really gives us the ability to test for drought stress tolerance in a way we couldn’t years ago,” says Jeff Spieler, a DeKalbAsgrow technical agronomist.  “We’re doing a much better job at selecting genetics to develop that tolerate stress at certain times.”

SEED SELECTION

Beyond the specialized research sites, Heggenstaller says industry seed selection processes have changed considerably in the past decade.

Companies test their seeds at hundreds of locations and select the best hybrids based on a growing library of years of data instead of a single season, which was a more common practice prior to 2010.

“The net effect of that is because the intensity with which we’re selecting these hybrids has increased, only the best ones are making it forward,” Heggenstaller says.  “The best ones are ones that can adapt and deal with a lot of different stresses.”

Some seed options are enhanced with biotech traits, such as corn rootworm resistance, that indirectly improve drought tolerant corn.  Corn rootworms damage the roots that suck up moisture from the soil, so eliminating corn rootworm keeps the plant better hydrated.

CREDIT TO FARMERS

Similarly, evolving management practices by growers help crops thrive with less moisture—sometimes as an unintended side effect.

Advances in precision planting and fertilizer application allow crops to grow faster and establish roots more quickly, providing them access to more water throughout the growing season.  In addition, strobilurin fungicides that have recently grown in popularity slow the respiration of corn and make plants use water more efficiently.

  Reduced tillage and better management of moisture-sucking weeds also contribute to higher yields.

“Growers have so many more tools to manage tillage, fertility and weeds,” says Spieler, who’s now seeing corn grown in parts of South Dakota where it hadn’t been considered viable.  “You combine all those things, and we’re able to manage corn in times when we do get water.”

“Years ago, we could have dry spells (like 2012) and it could be devastating,” says Mark Grundmayer, an agronomist for LG Seeds in Nebraska.  “Current products and the practices most farmers are using make a big difference in how we can weather some of these dry spells.

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Please contact David Tollefson with thoughts or comments on this or future columns at: adtollef@hcinet.net