Congratulations Jared Ripp!

A Wisconsinite – Jared Ripp of Dane – earned third-place nationwide in the National Corn Growers Association’s 2021 Corn Yield Contest. And earning two leading spots in the organization’s state contest is Tim Appell of Shullsburg.

What does it take to produce more than 300 bushels of corn per acre? There are a lot of factors but notable among them are an attention to detail and the satisfaction of watching one’s work progress in the field.

Ripp said there’s also a lot of trial and error. But those experiences led him to selecting the DKC58-06RIB blend. The 110-day blend yielded 322.5088 bushels per acre in the Corn Belt States’ conventional-non-irrigated category, to put him in third place nationwide.

It was the first time Ripp had entered the national contest. But he knew he had a good chance of doing well because the hybrid blend had produced a similar yield in 2020. He just hadn’t entered the contest.

When selecting seed he focuses on yield and standability traits, he said. He also focuses on his tillage program, planter accuracy, seed depth, plant population – 36,000 plants per acre – and good seed-to-soil contact.

Pete Clothier, an agronomy sales specialist with United Cooperative, has worked with Ripp for about eight years.

“Jared isn’t afraid to try something new,” Clothier said. “He’s fun to work with.”

The hybrid blend Ripp entered in the contest has performed well on other area farms, often reaching 250 to 270 bushels per acre, Clothier said.

Clothier also has worked with Ripp on the producer’s fertility program. They recently have focused on adding micronutrients such as zinc and boron to improve fertility.

“With high input costs and high land rent, we need corn to yield well,” Ripp said.

(Source: Agri-View)