LANSING, Mich. (WSYM) — Being a swing state that is currently producing the vaccine to a disease that has ravaged the world, Michigan has been in the national spotlight for numerous events lately. Now it returns for another reason-- corn farmers from the Great Lakes State are being recognized for their talents in a national corn yield contest.
For those not in the know, corn is something of a super crop. It’s eaten, yes, but it’s also used to make ethanol fuel, plastics, batteries, matches and hundreds of other items Americans are likely to interact with on a given day. For America to run the way we’re used to, we require a lot of it, so corn yield is a big deal.
This week the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) announced the winners of its 56th annual National Corn Yield Contest. U.S. farmers not only planted and harvested a large crop in spite of the pandemic this year, but they also rolled out some impressive yields. Don Stall from Charlotte, Michigan, produced the highest overall yield in the contest with a yield of 476.9052 bushels per acre.
Michigan winners by category are:
- Conventional Non-Irrigated – Dick Suwyn (Caledonia) – 287.2089 bushels per acre
- No-Till Non-Irrigated – Jay Ferguson (Yale) – 269.3473 bushels per acre
- Strip, Min, Mulch, Ridge-Till Non-Irrigated – Nick Suwyn (Wayland) – 286.2796 bushels per acre
- No-Till Irrigated – Ryan Drozd (Allegan) – 271.7443 bushels per acre
- Strip, Min, Mulch, Ridge-Till Irrigated – T Jon Drozd (Allegan) – 307.5574 bushels per acre
- Conventional Irrigated – Don Stall (Charlotte) – 476.9052 bushels per acre
Winners receive national recognition in publications such as the NCYC Corn Yield Guide, as well as trips or other awards from participating sponsoring seed, chemical and crop protection companies.
