View the full results and practices report
Kentucky has a new overall high yield! Actually, we have 3 overall highest yields this year.
We have a new highest overall yield reported in the contest at 143.42 bushels per acre. This 2023 No-Till State Champion wheat entry from Jason Crisp in McLean County followed soybeans. Camron, Clay and Mark Wells in Union County reported the second-highest overall yield ever at 139.64 bushels per acre with the 2023 Tillage State Champion. The Wells Brothers also reported the third-highest yield ever at 135.80 bushels per acre. The previous highest yield ever reported (now 4th highest ever) was from Keith Hendrickson in Union County in 2015 with 134.27 bushels per acre. That was followed by the 2022 state champion, S & J Emmick in Hancock County at 132.68 bushels per acre.
The average yield of the State Champion and the four Area Winners for 2023 is 133.56 bushels per acre. Area Winners included Double P Farms in Todd County, Ab Cates, Cates Farms, LLC in Henderson County, Corn Silk Farms in Logan County and Clint Quarles in Scott County for Areas 1, 2, 3 and 4 respectively.
Katie Hughes worked very hard to win the supervisor awards this year. She supervised 14 wheat entries, the most pf any supervisor in 2023, and she supervised the Top 3 Average Yield of 133.97 bushels per acre. Curt Judy supervised three entries and Clint Hardy supervised two entries.
The winning wheat entries were planted on an average of October 22 and ranged from October 15 to October 30. Wheat was in the field for an average of 253 days. Total N applied (including fall, winter and spring N applications) for the six winners ranged from 120 to 170 lb N/acre with an average of 137 lb N/acre. Nitrogen rates for all the entries in the 100 Bushel Club were very similar to the winning entries.
Across all 25 entries in the contest, four reported using sulfur, 11 reported using boron and one reported using zinc. Two wheat entries received 2 tons/acre of chicken litter. Seven of the entries received Palisade growth regulator and nine received Pinzola growth regulator. Sixteen of the 25 entries used tillage to help control weeds. All entries used herbicides to manage weeds. Twenty-tow entries reported using at least one fungicide and twenty reported using at least two fungicides. Nineteen entries reported using at least one insecticide.
Wheat yields in the contest did not correlate very strongly nitrogen applied. However, nitrogen applied in the winter and spring (usually the Feekes 3 and Feekes 5 timing) was a stronger indicator of yield than total nitrogen (including fall applications). Wheat yields had low correlations with planting date and harvest date as well. Ove these four comparisons, a later harvest date was a stronger indicator of higher wheat yields for 2023. This observation from 2023 indicates how favorable weather was during seed fill and harvest.
Again, the contest yields are posted: https://graincrops.ca.uky.edu/files/2023kywheatcontestwinners.pdf
