WAYLAND, Mich. — A Michigan farmer has defended his title as overall winner for the most bushels of wheat produced per acre in the state.

Nick Suwyn, 42, said he doesn’t have a secret recipe in what he applies to the soil before and after his seeds are planted in the fall.

In Michigan, the growing season is through the winter and spring with harvesting, typically, in July.

Suwyn credited his success to closely monitoring his crops from beginning until end so, if necessary, an application of nitrogen fertilizer can be applied to help the wheat quickly overcome any stress it might be under due to factors like weather.

“I don’t think there’s any silver bullets out there. It’s just working with what the Lord gives you and do the best that you can,” he said.

Suwyn was the overall winner in the 2024 Michigan Wheat Contest with 174 bushels per acre of his irrigated soft red winter wheat. That was an increase of nearly three bushels per acre from when he was the state’s overall winner for wheat yields the previous year.

Suwyn also finished first with 156.6 bushels per acre of his dryland soft red winter wheat harvested last year while his uncle, Dick Suwyn, placed second in the same category.

Michigan State University wheat specialist Dennis Pennington said Suwyn and other growers placing high in the contest had exceptional years despite very dry weather in many parts of the state during the grain-fill period last summer.

The results were announced on April 29 by the Michigan Wheat Program, which is funded by nearly 8,000 wheat growers in 50 of Michigan’s 83 counties. The program’s mission is to promote the state’s wheat industry and enhance it through research.

The organization also helps support the needs of growers by working with input suppliers, seed producers, end users and consumers.

Suwyn is no stranger to finishing at or near the top in wheat yield contests.

His past successes include a second-place finish nationally last year for yields and quality of his irrigated soft red winter wheat. Suwyn also took first place in the 2024 Great Lakes Yield Enhancement Network contest for his wheat yields.

He said other people from his long-time family farm about 20 miles south of Grand Rapids also played a major role in his achievements.

“You put a pretty good team around you and that makes all of the difference in the world,” he said.

Suwyn said he raises 500 to 600 acres of wheat along with corn and soybeans on about 3,000 acres.

It seems like Suwyn won’t rest until he takes first place at the national level for wheat yields after a string of previous top five finishes.

He said it might be a difficult task, especially against growers from other major wheat producing states like Washington and Idaho.

“It’s a hard climate to compete with but we do what we can,” he said.

Suwyn also goes up against stiff competition from another Michigan farmer, Jeffrey Krohn, who was just four bushels per acre short of becoming the overall winner in the state contest for his dryland soft white winter wheat.

Krohn, owner of Krohn Acres farm in the thumb section of the state, placed first in that category, topping second place finisher, Randy Eschenburg, of Lapeer County, by 24 bushels per acre.

His past successes include first place finishes in the national wheat yield contest last year and in 2021 in the dryland soft white winter wheat division.

Suwyn has also highly performed, but not quite as well as he has in wheat, in past contests for yields of corn and soybeans. He said he simply tries to follow what he believes is the calling of all farmers to do their very best to get the most out of the seeds they plant.

“Manage what you got in all different soil types, climates and weather. It’s just paying attention to what the crop needs,” he said.

The deadline for entering the 2025 state wheat yield contest is May 15, according to the Michigan Wheat Program.