Kip and Hula

The Secrets of No-Till Yield Champions

No-tillers David Hula and Kip Cullers say spoon-feeding crops at the right time, intensive scouting, healthy soils and even emergence have helped them raise contest-winning corn and soybean yields.


“Keeping soybeans short is crucial because they don’t translocate photosynthesis in the stem. If photosynthesis goes down, yield goes down with it.” — Kip Cullers



“I don’t want to do anything to my crop that’s going to take some yield away, because we can’t build yield or create it. We’re just protecting it.” — David Hula


 

 

 

 

One of the most valuable lessons David Hula learned about farming came several years ago from a towering former NFL player turned DuPont Pioneer agronomist.

He recommended Hula try a 120-day hybrid in corn, rather than his typical 104- to 114-day hybrid. Impact plots Pioneer tried on specific farms showed an average test weight of 57-58 pounds, but Hula discovered management practices that “tricked” his field into yielding 63.5 pounds.

As a perennial yield-contest champion, Hula says he’s learned to think outside of the box, and that’s what it takes for other no-tillers to break through their own yield barriers.

Hula notes that he rents 10-15 acres to seed corn companies doing advanced line trials, “so we can see some genetics and look at things on a small scale before we try to blow them up on a larger scale,” says Hula, whose family has been no-tilling continuously near Charles City, Va., since 1987.

Breaking Another Soybean Barrier

There’s no doubt that the success of David Hula, Kip Cullers and other farmers is driving other stakeholders in agriculture to take their own shot at breaking through yield barriers.

Soybean research trials conducted in 2014…

To view the content, please subscribe or login.
 Premium content is for our Digital-only and Premium subscribers. A Print-only subscription doesn't qualify. Please purchase/upgrade a subscription with the Digital product to get access to all No-Till Farmer content and archives online. Learn more about the different versions and what is included.

John dobberstein2

John Dobberstein

John Dobberstein is the Senior Editor of No-Till Farmer, Strip-Till Farmer, and Cover Crop Strategies. He previously covered agriculture for the Tulsa World and worked for daily newspapers in Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Joseph, Mich. This is John's second stint with Lessiter Media, the previous lasting almost 13 years.

Contact: jdobberstein@lessitermedia.com

Top Articles

Current Issue

Cover_NTF_January_0125.jpg

No-Till Farmer

Get full access NOW to the most comprehensive, powerful and easy-to-use online resource for no-tillage practices. Just one good idea will pay for your subscription hundreds of times over.

Subscribe Now

View More

Must Read Free Eguides

Download these helpful knowledge building tools

View More
Top Directory Listings