Pretty interesting. In time, many of the things Hula does will happen on other farms, increasing yields, if not to 600-plus bushels to the acre, then to more than before. More corn for everyone.
How David Hula grows 600-bushel-plus corn
Virginia farmer David Hula soared past the 600-bushel-per-acre corn barrier in 2019. Here’s how he did it.
By
Bill Spiegel,
Updated on July 6, 2024
David Hula is no stranger to stratospheric corn yields. His 623.8439 bushels per acre (bpa) yield in 2023 is the fifth time he’s set the world corn yield record, and his 12th time winning the National Corn Yield Contest.
He’s not achieving massive yields on super-fertile, jet-black land. Instead, Hula farms on sandy-loam fields in Charles City County, Virginia, southeast of Richmond.
“Everyone thinks we have a magic piece of dirt, but we don’t. We’ve had success on seven different fields and three different counties,” Hula says. “It takes a team of folks and God’s favor.”
"Everyone thinks we have a magic piece of dirt. We don't." - David Hula
Laying the foundation
Hula's quest for top yields begins 18 months before harvest, when he's planting the previous year's crop and field testing new technologies and theories. In 2018 he began using Precision Planting's Conceal starter fertilizer system, which places up to two different products on his John Deere 1770NT planter. Using Conceal, Hula places starter fertilizer 3 inches away from the row, 1.25 to 1.5 inches deep.
“I’m adamant about 3 inches away because I’m applying 66 pounds of nitrogen, 33 pounds of phosphorus, and some sulfur, zinc, boron, and Accomplish with the starter,” he says. “When our planter leaves the field, every acre, whether contest or not, is treated the same with the starter, as well as in our furrow system, which includes Relay and Ethos XB.”
He soil-samples each field in 1-acre grids after soybean harvest. Correcting pH is a priority; if necessary, fields receive an application of lime. He applies potash for the entire crop rotation before planting corn, using a Deere 800R spreader and a SoilWarrior strip-tiller. The SoilWarrior strip-tiller allows a farmer to apply a blend of dry products, including nitrogen, sulfur, monoammonium phosphorous (MAP), Titan XC, humic acid, and micronutrients in a 7-inch band, while making an ideal seedbed for corn.
Hula’s conversion to strip-till six years ago is a change from a long-term never-till system. However, strip-till allows nutrients to be placed in a narrow band, six to eight weeks before planting.
By using variable-rate technology for precise fertilizer placement and only applying fertilizer in the field’s tilled area, Hula can feed the crop exactly where it is growing. This doesn’t necessarily mean he uses less fertilizer; it just helps ensure efficiency. This way, every dollar he spends on crop nutrition precisely fuels performance.
Choosing hybrids
Each year, Hula meets with his Pioneer representatives to study agronomic data for hybrids suited for his environment. Yield is foremost, but he also prioritizes emergence, then plant health (or stay-green ability). He also prefers hybrids that he says flower earlier than relative maturity. For instance, he chooses a 112-day hybrid that pollinates like a 109-day hybrid, which gives a longer grain fill period.
Hula set his 2023 yield record with Pioneer’s P14830VYHR hybrid. This new hybrid, from the company’s freshman class of corn products, is a switch after Hula’s long history of high yields with P1197.
During Pioneer’s research and development process, P14830 showed high yield potential, high test weights, and strong plant health. While some hybrids are best suited for specific regions, P14830 shows potential to be adopted across the country.
“What is unique about this hybrid is its wide fit,” says Adam Theis, corn portfolio lead for Pioneer. “One parent comes from a more Western-focused breeding program; the other parent comes from a more Eastern-focused breeding. By doing that, we’re seeing those wide agronomics available.”
Planting Considerations
For his contest fields, Hula aims to drop from 38,000 to 54,000 seeds per acre.
His planter has undergone dramatic changes in the last few years. He installed Deere’s Performance Upgrade Kit, which included the ExactEmerge planter units, which have the high-speed bowl meters and brush belt seed tubes; and the ExactRate liquid delivery system for the starter application. Those changes have improved singulation, as well as consistent, even emergence, necessary for high yields.
“If corn comes up within six, seven days and so many growing degree units (GDUs) from the time we plant with even emergence, then we know we have an opportunity to do something special,” he says. “We got that picket-fence-row stand.”
The planter, Hula reckons, is the biggest key to maximizing yield. Every row of the planter needs to be working properly, whether it’s ensuring seed-to-soil contact and accuracy or getting fertilizer to the right location. It may require waiting for the right field conditions and stopping to check planter performance in the field.
Hula uses flag emerging trials on some corn annually to document the success across the entire planter, ensuring every row contributes equally. Hula says planters should be inspected during offseason and at the start of planting. Routine checks throughout the day during planting can catch issues early.
“I only get one time to do it right. And when the planter leaves the field, you’re either blessed with what you did or cursed with what you did, and you get to live with it for the rest of the season,” he says.
Planting speeds on contest fields can range from 4 to 7 mph, depending on seed size and shape, as Hula monitors singulation.
Once, 600 bushels per acre (bpa) was considered the maximum corn yield, assuming perfect conditions. Now, David Hula believes 800 to 900 bpa is attainable.
In-season crop protection
For years, Hula has pulled leaf tissue samples from his corn every Monday. From those, he’s built a large dataset that guides him as to when the crop is ready for required, specific nutrients. He applies micronutrients, potash, nitrogen, sulfur, and boron in-season, with foliar sprays. Based on crop needs determined from the tissue tests, he sidedresses with EZ-Drops. Later in the season he adds additional nutrients with EZ-Drops or with his center pivot system, a process known as fertigation.
On contest fields, Hula typically applies three fungicide passes, with a goal of keeping plants green as long as possible, maximizing kernel development.
Hula has observed the significant impact kernel weight has on final yields. “Imagine the yield difference if you harvest 56-pound corn versus 65-pound corn,” he says. “Having the same number of kernels per ear but a difference in ear weight — that can be big.”
Putting it into practice
600 bpa was thought to be the maximum corn yield, assuming perfect conditions. Now, however, Hula believes 800 to 900 bpa is attainable.
“If that’s the case and our average is 170 bushels per acre, we’re nowhere near where the potential is,” he says.
With up to nine passes through the field coupled with relying on irrigation, pushing the average corn acre to Hula’s award-winning yields isn’t realistic. However, the insights he learns from his contest fields can serve as a guide.
“I don’t mind doing things on a few acres to see what works,” Hula says. “In these plots, we’re learning a lot. The things that do work we’ll implement on other acres. When they work there, then it becomes a standard procedure for our operation. And despite all the things we do and think we have control over, it’s important for us to realize that we need God to bless the seeds we sow.”