The Wisconsin Corn Growers Association (WCGA) Corn Yield Contest is organized to encourage the development of new and innovative management practices that highlight the importance of using sound cultural practices in Wisconsin corn production systems.
Contest contact: Brenda Damrow Gudex, Communications and Program Manager
Contact information: 262-372-3289 or brenda@wicorn.org
CONTEST DESCRIPTION
Any corn production system can be entered in the contest. WCGA is not responsible for incorrect or missing entries. All rules set forth herein apply to all entries. Three winners will be selected from each of THREE geographical divisions in the state. Divisions are based on active county corn grower organizations. Active county organizations include those that have met at least twice during the calendar year. Wisconsin Growers that enter in the National Corn Yield Contest must contact WCGA to enter in the state contest.
CONTEST ENTRANT QUALIFICATIONS
There is no cost to enter, but the entrant must be a Wisconsin Corn Grower Association member in good standing. Only one entry per membership, but there could be more than one entry per farm if additional memberships are purchased.
RELEASE OF CONTEST ENTRY FIELD RECORDS
If requested, the entrant agrees to provide records to WCGA of their methods of handling and preparing the land; cultivation and weed control methods; insecticides, herbicides, fertilizers and rates of same that are used; the brand and variety of seed, seeding rate; date of planting, type and brand of corn planter, row width and date of harvesting; and amount of each application and type of irrigation used. Failure to provide such records may lead to disqualification.
CONTEST FIELD AND ENTRY QUALIFICATIONS
Contest field must be in the state of Wisconsin. Contest entry must be at least 10 continuous acres of one variety. Contestant may select the best 1.25 acres in a corn field larger than 10 acres and enter that variety. In the interest of Best Management Practices, grass waterways may be a part of the contest plot area. The length of any rows planted in a grass waterway will be included in the harvested row length if corn rows are planted in the waterway. If corn rows are not planted in the waterway, the length of each row will not include areas in the waterway. The land entered in the Contest must be owned or leased by the entrant and located in Wisconsin. The variety entered must be currently commercially available.
ENTRY FEE AND DEADLINE
Entries must be postmarked, emailed or faxed by December 13, 2024 to be eligible for this contest. No late entries will be accepted. There is no entry fee for this contest. Completed forms* may be emailed to info@wicorn.org, faxed to 262-372-3289 or mailed to Wisconsin Corn Growers Association, N77W24707 Century Court, Lisbon, WI 53089.
*If you participate in the National Corn Yield Contest (NCYC), you are able to provide your NCYC Harvest Report as your completed form. If you have questions on how to get your Harvest Report please contact NCGA. You must still submit form to enter in the Wisconsin Contest.
SUPERVISOR ELIGIBILITY QUALIFICATIONS
A supervisor is required for overseeing all computations and field measurements and must be present during harvesting, weighing, and moisture testing. The Wisconsin Corn Growers Association will only approve supervisors meeting the following qualifications: FFA Advisor, Agricultural Education Instructor, County Extension Agent or Assistant, Natural Resources Conservation Service senior staff, Farm Service Agency CED/Loan Manager/Officer, Farm Credit Services Officer, Bank Ag Loan Officer, Private Crop Consultant, College of Agriculture Instructor, American Society of Farm Managers accredited farm manager, Crop Insurance Agents/Adjustors, or retired individual with listed job title. Current WCGA Board members are eligible. A supervisor cannot have financial or direct business ties to the entrant or a company that sells agribusiness supplies, i.e. totally independent nor employed by the entrant. Call WCGA Executive Director Nicole Wagner when unsure of your selected supervisor’s qualifications. The supervisor name must be on the Contest entry form along with their title, address, telephone number, and email address. WCGA reserves the right to contact harvest supervisor to validate compliance with contest rules.
CONTEST AWARDS
Cash prizes will be awarded to the first ($500), second ($250) and third ($100) place winners in each geographic division (see map below). The winner is the entry that has the highest corn yield based on bushels per acre. In the event of a tie, both entrants will be recognized as co-winners.
CONTEST RESULTS
No information on the Contest results will be released until all results are finalized. There will be no exceptions. Results will be released during the WCGA Annual Meeting (held during Corn/Soy Expo). Decision of WCGA’s Contest Committee in all matters are final. The WCGA committee reserves the right to disqualify any entry without a refund for violation of any rules.
HARVEST RULES
The contest entry must be from a field of corn 10 or more acres in size of one variety. The contest area may be any shape, but must be in one continuous block of corn.
- Entrants and harvest supervisors are responsible for giving accurate row lengths for odd shape plots.
- A total of 1.25 or more acres must be harvested.
- All end rows/turning rows and the equal number of outermost rows on each side may not be a part of the selected 1.25 acre contest plot.
A supervisor must be present at harvest. The supervisors are responsible for completing all computations and field measurements and must be present during harvesting, weighing (gross and tare), and moisture testing. The entrant is responsible for mailing the information. The supervisor must require the entrant to run their combine and any transfer augers to be certain they are empty prior to harvesting the contest area. All wagons or trucks must be checked to make certain they are empty.
MEASURING: Preferred measurement tools are a tape, chain or wheel. Each measurement must be recorded on the Contest Entry form. Proper tape and chain measurements are taken with the measurement tool pulled taught but not off of the ground surface.
ROW LENGTH: If the rows are all the same length, measure the length of one row and record the same length for each of the rows harvested. If the rows are not all the same length, measure down the center of each set harvested and record the length for each of the rows in the set. (On pivot irrigation do not subtract wheel space).
ROW WIDTH: Record the row width based on spacing of the planter row units, such as 7.5”, 15”, 20”, 30”, 36”, 38”, etc.
CONTEST REGIONS
- Columbia County
- Northern Wisconsin
Ashland, Barron, Bayfield, Brown, Buffalo, Burnett, Calumet, Clark, Chippewa, Door, Douglas, Dunn, Eau Claire, Florence, Forest, Iron, Jackson, Kewaunee, Langlade, Lincoln, Manitowoc, Marathon, Marinette, Oconto, Oneida, Outagamie, Pepin, Pierce, Polk, Portage, Price, Rusk, Shawano, Sheboygan, St. Croix, Sawyer, Taylor, Trempealeau, Vilas, Washburn, Winnebago, Waupaca, and Wood counties - Southern Wisconsin
Adams, Crawford, Dane, Dodge, Fond du Lac, Grant, Green, Green Lake, Iowa, Jefferson, Juneau, Kenosha, La Crosse, Lafayette, Marquette, Milwaukee, Monroe, Ozaukee, Racine, Richland, Rock, Sauk, Vernon, Walworth, Washington, Waukesha, and Waushara counties
HARVEST REPORT FORMS
2023 Yield Contest Harvest Report Form (Excel)
2023 Yield Contest Harvest Report Form (pdf)
PRINTABLE RULES
2023 Corn Yield Contest Printable Rules (pdf)
2023 RESULTS
This year’s Wisconsin Corn Yield Contest harvested 12 Winners from four areas of Wisconsin. With over 90 entries from this year’s contest and many national winners entered in our state contest, this turned out to be a great year for Wisconsin growers overall.
Our winners are as follows:
Northern Wisconsin
· First Place Jeff Laskowski, Plover – 323.1454 bu/acre
· Second Place Mark Bacon, Hancock, 316.1546 bu/acre
· Third Place Barb Laskowski, Plover – 312.2869 bu/acre
Southern Wisconsin
· First Place Reginald Kamps, Darlington – 351.7848 bu/acre
· Second Place Eugene Steiger, Bloomington – 334.6214 bu/acre
· Third Place Betty Steiger, Bloomington – 329.3336 bu/acre
Rock County Corn Growers
· First Place Abe Arndt, Janesville – 323.1679 bu/acre
· Second Place Robert Gunn, Janesville, – 301.8130 bu/acre
· Third Place David Arndt, Janesville – 290.1300 bu/acre
Columbia County Corn Growers
· First Place Zachary Mickelson, DeForest – 242.7896 bu/acre
· Second Place David Mickelson, DeForest – 228.1967 bu/acre
· Third Place Greg Ebert, Columbus – 193.1015 bu/acre
2022 RESULTS
Northern Wisconsin
Jeff Laskowski, Plover – 298.3897 bu/acre
Steve Wilkens, Random Lake – 287.0565 bu/acre
Bill Patoka, Amherst – 279.5023 bu/acre
Southern Wisconsin
Reginald Kamps, Darlington – 324.0593 bu/acre
Jared Ripp, Dane – 324.0202 bu/acre
Jim, Chuck & Mark Fahey, Belleville – 321.6800 bu/acre
Rock County Corn Growers
David Arndt, Janesville – 278.0836 bu/acre
Columbia County Corn Growers
Zachary Mickelson, DeForest – 253.8100 bu/acre
Ben Dowdell, Pardeeville – 251.2060 bu/acre
David Mickelson, DeForest – 244.7900 bu/acre
2021 RESULTS
Rock County Corn Growers
Nick Venable, Janesville – 259.2227 bu/acre
Northern Wisconsin
Jeff Laskowski, Plover – 290.6533 bu/acre
Barb Laskowski, Plover – 276.3010 bu/acre
Ben Augustine, Sheldon – 250.17041 bu/acre
Southern Wisconsin
The late Scott Berget, Gratiot, 322.0204 bu/acre
Kevin Bahr, Darlington – 303.8546 bu/acre
Dan Leahy, Cuba City – 296.9095 bu/acre
2020 RESULTS
Columbia County Corn Growers
Allan Schroeder, Rio – 255.7947 bu/acre
Zachary Mickelson, DeForest – 243.4133 bu/acre
Rock County Corn Growers
Nick Venable, Janesville – 279.1467 bu/acre
Northern Wisconsin
Jeff Laskowski, Plover – 302.4913 bu/acre
Eric Weber, Barron – 272.7541 bu/acre
Barb Laskowski, Plover – 271.7817 bu/acre
Southern Wisconsin
Jerry Kreuziger, Juneau – 266.5071 bu/acre
Dan Duthie, Theresa – 248.226 bu/acre
Richard Lucas, Hancock – 244.6635 bu/acre