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1 | Title slide | | The motivation to work on high yield corn production comes from many sources. These few slides review some of the people and philosophy that have influenced my interest in the challenge high yield corn production. |
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2 | Herman Warsaw’s high yield corn records. | | Herman Warsaw’s 338 bu/A yield in 1975 caught the attention of corn production research and Extension people across the country. The Potash & Phsophate Institute arranged for a group of them to meet and visit Warsaw's farm and discuss why research yields, and farmer average yields, were not even close to the levels Warsaw was achieving. How could they narrow that yield gap? |
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3 | The resources Warsaw employed in his high yield efforts. | | Herman Warsaw had good soil, but he also managed it better than most farmers. He chisel-plowed 15” deep, but still left more than 30% of the residue on the surface. That is a lot of residue with a 300+ bu/A corn crop. He used a hybrid that was especially well adapted to high fertility situations and had a high yield potential. Most important, he spent a lot of time in his fields, looking for that “next limiting factor”. Paying attention to details was his main secret. |
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4 | Dr.Werner Nelson, a leader in the quest for high yield systems…by searching for the details of the next limiting factor. | | Dr. Werner Nelson of PPI was an excellent diagnostician and teacher. One of the skills of the trade to be learned from Werner was to look for the "next limiting factor" in the BEST areas of a field. That is a key to progress toward high yields. |
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5 | Purdue researchers accepted the PPI-FAR challenge, and made significant progress in the first 3 years. | | Dr. Harold Reetz, Dr. Kim Polizotto and Dr. Dave Mengel launched a project at the Purdue Agronomy Farm to attempt to grow 300 bu/A corn and 100 bu/A soybeans. This project was one of a series supported by the Potash & Phosphate Institute and Foundation for Agronomic Research in the mid to late 1970’s as a challenge to researchers. In 1982, they harvested 85 bu/A soybeans and 235 bu/A corn. (That was the last year of the project.) |
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6 | Several other success stories resulted from the PPI-FAR challenge. | | Dr. Roy Flannery and Dr. Sterling Olson were two other researchers in the PPI-FAR High Yield program. They both had exceeded 330 bu/A corn by 1982. Dr. Fred Welch at the University of Illinois produced some 300+ bu/A corn with irrigation and artificial lights. Dr. Bob Lambert developed some new breeding material that exceeded 300 bu/A on HermanWarsaw’s farm and on the University of Illinois Agronomy Farm. |
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7 | A new generation of high yield production was challenged at the end of the 20th Century. | | In 1999, Herman Warsaw’s record was broken by Francis Childs, Manchester, Iowa, with 394 bu/A in the National Corn Growers yield contest. |
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8 | Fertility goals should be set according to the overall management level of the farmer. | | The overall management skills and goals of a farmer help determine the optimum level of fertility needed. A farmer who operated at a high management level can justify and can utilize a higher level of fertility than one who manages at an average or lower level. Again, it is paying attention to details and building a system for success that is critical. |
9 | Maximum Economic Yield…managing just below the maximum yield level, reduces risk and puts a high yield system in place. | | By managing at a high level of fertility and other inputs….putting a high yield system in place….a farmer can reduce his risk of yield and profit loss if he is forced to reduce inputs for some reason in any single year. Operating at the Maximum Economic Yield level also helps ensure he will have the system in place to take advantage of a good growing season when it occurs. |
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10 | Contact us for more information. | | Hopefully these brief reports and ideas will help stir interest among others in high yield corn management.
Please feel free to contact us for more details. |