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Coles County, Illinois | This year I didn't set an absolute single field yield record. I got very close but 2009 still holds a single field record for corn and I believe it was in 2007 that the single field soybean record was set.
In the fall of 2009, I had the fields going to corn grid sampled and began the process of balancing my P& K. Some areas have not received any P or K, some areas have only received P, some areas have only received K, some areas have received both. Maximum application rates where set at 400 lbs of DAP or Potash. Total fertilizer budget was kept at what I would have spent in a single rate program.
Although near perfect weather takes some of the credit, many fields far exceeded the best it had done in the past. One field of corn was 31% better than it's ever done before and 46% better than what I would have considered a good year for that field. Soybean yields showed somewhat less dramatic improvements. The best example showed an increase of 19% over that field's best ever.
As I've concentrated on improving the poorer areas, my whole farm averages did set records. Corn production has exceeded it's best average yield per acre ever by 17% and soybean production exceeded it's best by 11%. Yields were very uniform with only a 12 bu/acre spread in corn and 3 bu/acre spread in soybeans. All soybeans were hauled to the elevator but final corn yields include a conservative estimate of on farm storage.
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Variable rate fertilizer pays off.
