By STAN MADDUX

Indiana Correspondent

PLYMOUTH, Ind. — A pair of champion grain producers will be coming to Indiana to teach farmers how to go beyond the high yields they already attain. The instruction will be during a three-year class, with the first sessions taking place Jan. 9-10, 2019, in the Plymouth area.

Brad Stackhouse, a Plymouth grower of corn and soybeans, is bringing in the experts because of the positive results he’s already seeing from applying some of their techniques on his 3,000 acres. He and his son completed the first of the three-year course being offered in northwestern Illinois, and want other farmers to enjoy higher rates of return especially critical during a down agriculture economy.

“We found it valuable enough that we wanted to bring it back to Indiana,” he explained.

David Hula of Charles City, Va., and Randy Dowdy from Pavo, Ga., are well-established in achieving 500 bushels per acre of corn and 170 bushels per acre of soybeans; Dowdy set the world record with 503 in corn in 2014.

Hula and Dowdy already offer instruction through their Next Level yield program in Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, South Dakota, North Dakota and Nebraska. Their secret for maximum yields includes more specialized testing of soil and tissue of plants to know exactly the nutrients needed at various stages of the growing season, along with better disease prevention and management practices.

“We’re looking at a full system approach. Not all yield is about ‘I planted X number of plants and we hope for the best,’” Dowdy said. “The breeders tell us there is 700 bushels of yield potential in a bag of seed. Everything we do is aimed at capturing and protecting as much of that yield potential as we can.”

Stackhouse believes farmers entrenched in their ways should be open to a modern approach to higher yield production. “We’re trying to find a way to maximize grain production so we can stay in business,” he noted.

“To do that, we have to change some of the things we did, or my dad or grandpa did, that may not necessarily correct for this kind of a farm production economy – and who better to teach us that somebody that’s already done it?”

At least 50 students in a class is the goal for the Next Level yield program. Stackhouse said more than half that has already enrolled for the class. Two-day class sessions are held four times annually during the three-year program.

Stackhouse said he hasn’t chosen a specific location for the class because he wants to know how many farmers have enrolled once the registration period ends on Dec. 23, before reserving space. The class will be somewhere in the Plymouth area, though.

Stackhouse said the cost is $5,000 a year. To register, go to www.dowdycropinnovations.com or call him at 574-952-8364 with questions.

He said the first three hours of the Jan. 9 session will be a free seminar to give an overview of the class. Farmers staying after the seminar to take the class can pay the fee.

Stackhouse said the cost might seem high, but he’s already earned his money back from the higher rate of return just from applying one facet of the program he learned early in the instruction.