No plow, no pivot, just 300-bushel corn. In 2022, Jack Shissler grew bin-busting 302 bushel-per-acre corn on no-till, non-irrigated ground.
The eye-popping tally gained Shissler a third-place Illinois finish in the National Corn Growers Association Yield Contest, but the high number is only one part of a story including a 260-bpa average for his entire 190-acre field, along with a 243-bpa average across Shissler’s overall corn acreage.
There was no kitchen-sink or experimental approach. “I’m an open book,” Shissler says. “Contest acres or regular acres, I treated everything the same. Boiled down, my yields were about choosing the right variety and applying fungicide. Variety and fungicide—that’s where it was at.”
In-House Rivalry
In west-central Illinois, Shissler, 49, works ground in Knox and Peoria counties, in tandem with his father, Tom, and spends the off-season moving grain in Mason County, alongside his brother, Adam. In total, the Shissler family grows no till corn, green beans, peas, popcorn, and soybeans.
Occupying the best of both topographical worlds, the Shissler farmland is composed of rich black soil atop gentle rolls, with grassy waterways laced through the bottoms. “It’s awesome ground and so fertile,” Shissler says. “We don’t have circles or wet spots, and it’s tiled where needed, with waterways to compensate. Some of our farming friends mow the waterways, bale the grass, and feed their cattle.”
As a former seed corn business family for 50 years, the Shissler’s in-house rivalry heats up each season. “I always want to find something to beat my dad,” Shissler says, while wearing a wide grin. “He is always on the search for the next variety, but when I find something good, I’ll stick tight as long as I can.”
Picket Fence
Every fall, Shissler knifes anhydrous into his ground, backed by N-Serve stabilizer. “We figure on 40 units of nitrogen from our soybean rotation, and we add 160 units for a total of 200. Even with crazy fertilizer prices of the last several years, we’ve never made cutbacks. It’s pretty simple: We put back in whatever nutrients we take out.”
No plow, no pivot, just 300-bushel corn. In 2022, Jack Shissler grew bin-busting 302 bushel-per-acre corn on no-till, non-irrigated ground.
The eye-popping tally gained Shissler a third-place Illinois finish in the National Corn Growers Association Yield Contest, but the high number is only one part of a story including a 260-bpa average for his entire 190-acre field, along with a 243-bpa average across Shissler’s overall corn acreage.
There was no kitchen-sink or experimental approach. “I’m an open book,” Shissler says. “Contest acres or regular acres, I treated everything the same. Boiled down, my yields were about choosing the right variety and applying fungicide. Variety and fungicide—that’s where it was at.”
In-House Rivalry
In west-central Illinois, Shissler, 49, works ground in Knox and Peoria counties, in tandem with his father, Tom, and spends the off-season moving grain in Mason County, alongside his brother, Adam. In total, the Shissler family grows no till corn, green beans, peas, popcorn, and soybeans.
Occupying the best of both topographical worlds, the Shissler farmland is composed of rich black soil atop gentle rolls, with grassy waterways laced through the bottoms. “It’s awesome ground and so fertile,” Shissler says. “We don’t have circles or wet spots, and it’s tiled where needed, with waterways to compensate. Some of our farming friends mow the waterways, bale the grass, and feed their cattle.”
As a former seed corn business family for 50 years, the Shissler’s in-house rivalry heats up each season. “I always want to find something to beat my dad,” Shissler says, while wearing a wide grin. “He is always on the search for the next variety, but when I find something good, I’ll stick tight as long as I can.”
Picket Fence
Every fall, Shissler knifes anhydrous into his ground, backed by N-Serve stabilizer. “We figure on 40 units of nitrogen from our soybean rotation, and we add 160 units for a total of 200. Even with crazy fertilizer prices of the last several years, we’ve never made cutbacks. It’s pretty simple: We put back in whatever nutrients we take out.”
What was Shissler’s takeaway? He attributes the high yield to three factors: Stand, hybrid, and fungicide.
Stand: Planting mistakes haunt until the end of the year, Shissler emphasizes. “The seed has to go in right and there is no second chance. Getting that ideal stand is crucial and that means paying attention to all the little details right out of the gate. For example, 35,500 is right what my fertility can handle.”
Hybrid: “I can only tell people about my ground, but when I find a variety that works—like Golden Harvest G15J91-V—I latch on and I’ll put half my acres in it next year. Farmers think they all have the best and maybe they do, but come ride in my combine and you can see these yields. Variety makes a real difference.”
Fungicide: Money well spent, according to Shissler. “Fungicide is the key for us. It can be a 50-bushel difference when sprayed twice, the second time around pollination. Some guys won’t spend the money, but maybe they haven’t seen these huge yields. When you’re talking about profitability, then it’s a total necessity to spend $35 per acre to get $65 per acre.”
Source: agweb.com
Photo Credit: GettyImages-fotokostic
Categories: Illinois, Crops, Corn