Collaborators: ANR Agent, Glen Roberts, KSU SFA, Danny Adams, ANR assistyant, Terry Bertram, Wayne County Grain Growers, KY Corn Growers, KY Wheat Growers, and KY Soybean Growers, University of KY Grain Yield Contest, USDA National Agriculture Statistics Service, KY Field Office

Wayne Co grain growers are faced with a limited amount of available, suitable land for row cropping. They need to optimize yields and maximize efficiency in order to compete with farmers in other areas who have access to more acres.

The Kentucky Extension Corn Yield Contest provides a mechanism that producers can use to see how they compare with top growers in their county , district and state. In spite of limited acres available for row crop production Wayne County farmers have competed well in this contest with state winners in both soybean and corn yield contests. Wayne County had the first 200 + bushels yield in the contest in the mid-eighties and the first no-till 300+bushel yield in the contest in 2014.

The Williams family have been participating in the yield contest for over 30 years. They are avid supporters of the UK Cooperative Extension Service utilizing information about fertility management, pesticide recommendations, crop rotation and overall management. On Wednesday September 17,2014 ANR agent Glen Roberts and KSU Small Farm Assistant, Danny Adams measured a yield of 303.88 bushels per acre for the Williams family. This was the first no-till non-irrigated yield of over 300 bushels ever reported in the history of the contest. By using the grain yield contest as motivation and as a measuring stick they have moved their best yields from the middle of the pack to the top. They have also increased their average yield compared to the rest of the county corn growers by 20 bushels per acre. This means an increase in net profit of $15,000 this year for the Williams family`s 225 acre corn crop. The Williams family have increased their grain yields by following recommended practices and by observing how the most successful producers achieve optimum yields. Now other producers are observing them.

Kentucky Soybean Growers have added highest protein and highest oil content awards.  In 2018 we had three Wayne County soybean producers, David Denney, Thomas Kelsay, and Williams Farms to rank first and second in those areas and sweep all four awards.

Further evidence of the success of the this cooperative effort to increase grain yields in Wayne County can be found in the 2017 USDA National Agriculture Statistics report for Kentucky.  For counties in Kentucky Wayne County ranked first with a corn yield of 205 bushels/acre. This is the first time a county in Kentucky has reported an average yield of over 200 bushels per acre. Wayne County ranked first in average wheat yield of 84.4 bushels per acre and tied for second in soybean yield of 60.4 bushels per acre.