By STEVE BINDER

Illinois Correspondent

WILLIAMSVILLE, Ill. — For Bruce and Nick Constant, near-perfect weather conditions and the right amount of rain during the season led to eye-popping yield numbers this year as part of the Farmer’s Independent Research and Seed Technologies (FIRST) program.

The Constants’ farm, located just north of Springfield and with some of the best soil in Illinois, produced corn numbers that blew away the farm’s average yield numbers for the crop during the past eight years that the brothers have participated in the FIRST program.

“The weather was kind to this site,” noted Eric Beyers, the FIRST site manager for the Constants’ test plots. “Although summer rains were spotty, the corn pollinated great and must have caught enough showers afterward to fill kernels. Ears were mostly filled to the top, deep kernels and excellent quality.”

Beyers also commented that the height of the corn plants ranged from 7-9 feet and that there was almost no lodging.

For the eight years that the farm has participated in corn trials, the farm’s average yield has been 198.4 bushels per acre. This year, the Constants posted an average yield number of 251.4 bushels per acre, an increase of nearly 27 percent.

The Constants do not irrigate their well-drained, tama silt loam soil and alternate between corn and soybeans each year. Corn went into the ground at a rate of 38,100 per acre on May 15, and the crop was harvested Oct. 25.

In the early season test, the top three performers all posted yield numbers that exceeded 270 bushels per acre. NuTech/G2 Gen’s X5FN-0909 finished first with a yield of 274.2 bushels per acre and a gross income total of $848 per acre; Dekalb’s DKC60-87RIB GC was second with 270.7 bushels per acre on a return of $830; and Wyffels’ W6946DGRIB came in third with 270.4 bushels per acre on an income return of $834 per acre.

In the full season test, LG Seeds’ LG5650VT2PRIB was first with a yield average of 287.1 bushels per acre and a gross income return of $871 per acre; Pfister’s 71C1PCR was second with a yield total of 285.9 and a gross income return of $862; and Wyffels’ W7888RIB was third with a yield of 283.6 and an income return of $860.

The average moisture level for the crop was 17.4 percent.

It was the Constants’ inaugural test plot for beans this year, and although the site does not have history to compare this year’s numbers, yield numbers were impressive, averaging 71.7 bushels per acre.

“Bruce and Nick’s farm caught a few timely summer rains. This soybean trial had robust growth,” Beyers added. “Plant height ranged from 48-54 inches tall. Pod development was good and uniform. Seed size was large.”

Soybeans were planted on May 14 at a rate of 140,000 per acre and the crop was harvested on Oct. 21.

Finishing in the top spot was Golden Harvest’s GH4307X with a yield total of 82.8 bushels per acre and a gross income return of $777 per acre; Golden Harvest’s GH3546X was second with a yield of 81.3 bushels per acre and an income return of $763 per acre; Dairyland’s DSR-4011/R2Y was third with a yield of 80.1 bushels per acre and a return of $752 per acre.

Average moisture for the beans was 9.6 percent.