GEORGIA A U.S. corn farmer has done something that Ontario farmers could only imagine: break 500 bushels per acre for corn. Georgia farmer Randy Dowdy set a new record in the National Corn Growers Association National Corn Yield Contest for 2014, when his corn yield came in at 503 bu/ac growing DKC 62-08, a Dekalb corn seed. Dowdy, a first-generation farmer who has been farming for just eight years and started growing corn for the first time in 2008, used paraquat weed killer to help rid the fields of the morning glory weeds before harvest. The corn yield contest states that all entries must have at least 10 continuous acres of one hybrid. Dowdy, who believes 600 bu/ac corn is possible, also grew 110 bu/ac soybeans. “You have to be a researcher on your farm to increase your yields,” he told the Southeast Farm Press. “And Ive made mistakes, but Ive learned from every one of them.” |