PEORIA, Ill. — It’s not often a contest winner shares his secrets of success with all of his contemporaries, especially when the contest carries a top cash prize of $5,000.

But Dan Arkels, a LaSalle County farmer who is the first Illinois grower to produce a verified 100 bushels-per-acre soybean yield, feels sharing his secrets is simply keeping with the tradition of the Illinois Soybean Assoc. (ISA) Yield Challenge competition.

In fact, he was eager to share the techniques he used and the tools he employed to produce an average of 103.95 bushels an acre on his 30-acre test plot, with anyone at the ISA 2014 Yield Challenge awards banquet, March 5 at the Marriott Pere Marquette Hotel in downtown Peoria.

“I used the Yield Challenge as a learning tool to learn new techniques for growing soybeans. It’s a wonderful opportunity for soybean growers to go into their fields and test new production techniques that can take their yields to the next level,” Arkels said in a brief speech. He shared tips for success with fellow growers attending the Yield Challenge awards reception, as well as online at www.ILSoyAdvisor.com

He acknowledges while weather played an important role in his success in 2014, the top-notch advisory team he assembled for the contest played another important role. His team, which gathered every two weeks to compare notes on Arkels’ test plot, included local Pioneer seed dealers and experts employed with StollerUSA, Rosen and GRAINCO FS.

Arkels attributes a large portion of his success to using the latest soybean seed genetics and maintaining season-long vigilance concerning plant health. “My top goal this year was to save as many blossoms and pods as possible,” he explained.

Working with prior ISA Yield Challenge experience under his belt, Arkels knew a pre-plant application of phosphorous and potash, 15-inch row spacing and a foliar application of nitrogen, zinc, manganese, iron and sulfur applied at the V3-V4 growth stages would produce optimal yields.

In addition, he applied slow-release nitrogen and micronutrients throughout the season, along with fungicides when required. Arkels planted a 3.4 maturity level soybean variety on his test plot.

“Someone needed to prove it’s possible to raise 100-bushel soybeans in Illinois, and I was lucky in that I had the right growing season to do it,” he noted.

Seventy-six Illinois farmers participated in the 2014 Yield Challenge, with 25 also competing in the 100-Bushel Challenge, which debuted in 2013. ISA established the soybean checkoff-funded Yield Challenge in 2010 with an eye on growing the state’s legacy as a global leader in soybean production.

Producers in all nine crop reporting districts are instructed to set up side-by-side plots, with one plot using traditional crop production methods and the other reserved for experimentation as part of the Yield Challenge. Results of the contest, including top-producing techniques, practices and products, are shared online and in person with other Illinois soybean producers.

“The original goal of the Yield Challenge was to increase the average soybean yield in Illinois to 55 bushels per acre, and get farmers to try new production practices and techniques to increase yields,” said Roberta Simpson-Dolbeare, ISA District 12 director from Pike County. “To reach that goal, ISA invests in soybean research and education activities helping connect growers with better production practices and techniques.

“The Yield Challenge was designed for just that purpose, while also providing an avenue for the sharing of results with other growers in the state.”

Don Meyer, Yield Challenge liaison with the Illinois State University Ag Science Club, which coordinated the 2014 Challenge, said the contest proves investments in both management and technology can add significant bushels per acre and make soybeans more economically competitive with corn.

“With the Yield Challenge, we’re trying to push that envelope, trying to advance that yield per acre,” said Meyer, who emceed the Yield Challenge awards banquet. “The Yield Challenge held a lot of excitement, and a lot of optimism last summer. Certainly we hope this year we will see that kind of excitement and more. We know 100 is possible, so now we’ll see if we can continue to raise the bar.”

In addition to Arkels, five other Illinois growers eclipsed the 70-bushel threshold and were honored at the awards banquet. They were Chad Kuenstler (89.9 bushels an acre), Michael Windish (83.2), Joe Klein (79.5), Chris Gould (74.9) and Larry Garlisch (72.6). Additional district winners included Jeff Keifer, Michael Deutsch, John Breedlove and Richard Adams.