DUBOIS, Ind. – Look up the word “champion” in Webster’s dictionary and you just might find a photo of a Kalb farm family member from Indiana. This corn growing family – Kevin, Kogen, Emmersen, Shawn and Rhylan – was well-represented in the 61st National Corn Growers Association’s (NCGA) National Corn Yield Contest.

This year, U.S. farmers pushed the limits of corn production, as the contest drew nearly 7,800 entries across 47 states, with verified yields averaging 269 bushels per acre.

The second-highest yield in the 2025 contest and the highest non-irrigated entry was a 425.7728 bushel per acre entry from Kevin Kalb. Kalb farms landed two additional first-place national entries in categories specific to the Corn Belt states. Rhylan Kalb produced 425.3257 bushels per acre in the no-till non-irrigated category, while Shawn Kalb finished second in this category at 410.3311 bushels per acre. Kogan Kalb recorded a first-place win in the non-irrigated strip till category with 399.4384 bushels per acre.

“We learned so much about farming from my grandpa and great uncle,” Kevin Kalb said. “We got into a yield contest in 2007, and that’s when we really started learning how to manage the crop. There’s so much more potential out there than just doing the normal stuff.”

In 2024, Kevin was third nationally in the conventional non-irrigated class. That same year, Shawn was first in no-till non-irrigated and Kogan finished second in ridge-till non-irrigated class. The Kalbs relied on the DEKALB brand.

“Even though you’re farming different soil types, the mentality in growing corn is that it still takes X amount of nutrient of each zinc, boron and manganese,” Kevin said.

Troy Uphoff, of Findlay, Ill., was third nationally in the conventional non-irrigated class at 348.16 bushels per acre, and was tops in this class for Illinois growers. He won the national title last year at 385.88 bushels per acre. Uphoff, too, was a DEKALB user.

“We’ve always been atop the Illinois list the past four years,” Uphoff said. “It all starts with Mother Nature. You always need a little bit of luck. Next, it helps to start with clean fields with great fertility, picking out the right plant for the right acre for a good root structure. Next is picking out the right variety to accelerate that yield.”

Alex Harrell, of Leesburg, Ga., won the conventional irrigated category with 416.8270 bushels per acre.

Michael Gettelfinger, of Salem, Ind., finished third overall in the no-till non-irrigated class, turning in 346.32 bushels per acre using Pioneer P1742Q. Gettelfinger farms 2,000 acres across the Indiana counties of Orange, Washington and Harrison.

“Third time was the charm,” Gettelfinger said, referring to his 290 bushel per acre effort two years ago and low 300s last season. “This was the best year we’ve had in this competition.”

Gettelfinger said success in the National Corn Growing Contest requires good weather, some good seed, acceptable soil and lots of luck.

“It’s a little bit of everything,” he said. “One thing that I think really helps us is we’ve been focusing on our micro-nutrients, like zinc and boron. Everyone looks at the balance of phosphorus, potassium and nitrogen, too. Planting conditions have a lot to do with it, starting with the right soil temperatures and getting a good start to the growing season.”

Gettelfinger said seed placement and luck of the weather comes into play with non-irrigated corn, adding that he was hoping to avoid cool, wet conditions.

“We were fortunate. The corn never underwent any stress. We had a perfect stand,” Gettelfinger said. “We planted 36,000 seeds and had a 36,000 stand. We found that the soil depth of seed is important, too, as the seed planter can make you or break you.”

Gettelfinger has his sights set on the next national corn growing contest.

“We’re already making plans for 2026, setting our sights on surpassing that 348-bushel mark,” he said.

A Sweetwater, Tenn., farm family claimed two non-irrigated category wins. Josh Watson took the conventional non-irrigated category with 387.6074 bushels per acre, and Jabe Watson’s 349.0543 bushels per acre entry won the non-irrigated strip-till, minimum till, mulch-till, ridge-till class.

Robert Santini, of Bloomsbury, N.J., was the non-irrigated no-till category winner with a 383.5235 bushel per acre entry. Corder Hobbs, of Elmont, Ala., won the no-till irrigated class with 402.3345 bushels per acre.

David Hula, of Charles City, Va., took overall honors at 572.2569 bushels per acre in Class H class (strip-till, minimum till, mulch, ridge-till class irrigated). Hula had a record-setting 623.84 bushels per acre last year.

It is the 14th national high yield win in the contest for Hula, and he said it came with some important production insights.

“If I could point to any one thing about this 2025 season, it is that it handed us a lesson on the importance of finishing strong,” Hula said.

Hula’s entry was the only one to exceed 500 bushels per acre in 2025. He also is the only farmer to exceed 600 bushels per acre in the national contest and has done it three times (2019, 2021 and 2023).

“The Yield Contest is really about finding out what this crop is capable of,” said Ohio grower and NCGA President Jed Bower. “And as corn farmers, we get to show what we’re made of, too. It challenges participants to find innovative ways to succeed and contribute to decades of agronomic data that prove the American farmers are great at what we do.”

The 30 national and 567 state winners will be honored by NCGA at Commodity Classic in San Antonio, Texas, Feb. 25-27, 2026.