Kaschak's Record Corn Yield
Story by David Kaschak
Theresa and David Kaschak proudly showing off their pups and corn
My sister Theresa and I have a 153 acre farm near Waterford in northwest Pennsylvania. We raise corn, oats, hay, 13 Hereford beef cows, and we milk 40 Holstein Dairy cows. We also breed Registered English Shepherd pups which are sold throughout the U.S. Our web site is: http://kaschak-kennels.tripod.com/
I started testing Growers Mineral Solution in 1991 and since then, have benefited from help given us by Growers District Manager Terry Hoffman and his wife Rose.
Our first Growers test was on Alfalfa in 1991:
Half the field got dry 0-13-39 fertilizer with boron. The other half only got a Growers foliage spray.
The Growers half, at first cutting was greener, taller and less insect damage, it grew back faster and the Protein was also higher.
Our first Growers test on Corn was in 1991:
Half the field got 400 lb. of 10-20-20 dry fertilizer in the row. Half the field got 200 lb. of 10-20-20 dry fertilizer in the row plus a foliage spray of Growers when the corn came up.
The Growers half turned darker green after the first spray of 3 gallons per acre. My neighbor asked, "Why does half the field looked so different?" At harvest the grain dried down faster and I had about 50 Bu. per acre more ear corn.
In the Fall 1994 issue and the Summer 2001 issue of the The Growers Solution are reports of our earlier winnings. Also, in the 1994 Growers Yield Results Book on pages 16 and 17 shows Growers' all time yield record holders; we were in Third place with 258 BPA.
David Kaschak and Terry Hoffman surveying David's field
In 1997 we went all Growers. No more bags to handle. I also tried Growers Nutritional Additive (GNA). The 1997 Growers Yield Results Book on pages 5 and 17 shows 258.3 BPA. Since then I have tried various test plots with different corn, different planting populations, different results. I have had over 300 Bu. per acre many times, but they did not count in the Growers 100 BPA Contest because they were on less than 5 acres.
Our 2008 Record Corn Yield:
History:
In the fall of 2006 we sprayed Round-up® on sod, applied manure from our dairy cows and fall plowed. We planted corn May 11, 2007, and we had a very dry summer - May 1 to Nov. 1 - 20.8 inches of rain. The September 30, 2007, yield check was only 202.75 Bu. per acre. We applied 2 tons per acre calcium lime October 13, 2007, plus manure and fall plowed.
May 21, 2008
Our last snow (ground white - 35 degrees.) I was glad to have fall plowed! Planted corn May 24, 2008, with 5 gallons of Growers per acre in the rows. June 15, 2008, sprayed 2 gallons per acre Growers with 4 gallons of water. July 10, 2008, sprayed 3 gallons of Growers and 3 gallons of water plus 8.5 oz. GNA per acre. We had a wet year - May 1 to Nov. 1 - 32.4 inches of rain. Before Rose, Terry and I started the check on October 10, 2008, Terry said, "This field looks like the best you ever had." Lots of two and three ears per stock and all the ears were full to the tip, no wind damage and very little raccoon or deer damage.
In the 9 acres of Seedway 2170 corn we checked 3 different places in the field, added them together and divided by three for an average of 298 Bu. per acre. For the 9 acres of the Unity 5980 corn we checked the same way and it averaged out at 312 Bu. per acre. Relative maturity is 81 days. I plant around 35,000 population. At the time of our yield check I had a 34,300 stand. After the picking was done we had real close to one ton per acre more corn in 2008 than in 2007 in the same field. Cost of the Growers was $69.08 per acre.
I don't feed Growers to the cows, but I apply it to the crops they eat which seems to eliminate any deficiencies. Our milk production is around 23,000 lb. per head per year. Since we started applying Growers to our crops, per cow per year milk production went up about 4000 lb. Every year I get at least one extra cutting of hay because it grows faster.
(Staff Note: David sent us a clipping from the December 2008 issue of Successful Farming showing the winners and their yields in the National Corn Growers Assoc. 2008 Corn Yield Contest. Seems their contestants play by different rules in that they take their yields from "plots" and they are from the best plots from the best fields, not averages over the whole field, and they plant at least 130 day corn. Regardless, David's yields for the non-irrigated corn were 16 Bu. per acre better than the NCG's winner. We think it is of special interest that, other than some manure, no commercial nitrogen, phosphorous or potash has been used on the Kaschak's farm for many years.)
