Records are meant to be broken. On August 23, Georgia farmer Alex Harrell did just that, placing his name atop the list of the nation's most prodigious soybean growers.
With the harvest of a 2.5-acre plot of irrigated soybeans averaging 206.7997 bushels per acre (bpa), Harrell achieved a new world record for soybean production, besting the efforts of fellow Georgian Randy Dowdy of Valdosta, who held the record the past seven years.
Harrell's average yield is the first to exceed 200 bpa. The previous record was 190.23 bpa, set by Dowdy in 2019.
With a goal of raising 200 bushels per acre, Harrell was looking to push his field’s potential. And with the help of his crop consultant, Caleb Traugh, he did that and more. They formulated the perfect plan and executed it to perfection, making only a few alterations when tissue samples revealed specific nutrient demands.
Harrell called it a testament to the Total Acre grower camps led by Randy Dowdy and Virginia producer David Hula and their pay-it-forward approach to crop production strategies.
“Randy Dowdy truly set the bar and gave me something to chase,” said Harrell. “He made me realize that it was possible to achieve record yields here in Georgia.”
Harrell chose a 10-acre block within a 60-acre sandy loam field equipped with pivot irrigation for the contest entry. After grid soil sampling last fall, lime was applied at a variable rate, and the field was seeded to a winter cover crop mix of oats, rye, triticale and daikon radish. A total of 85,000 seeds were planted in 30-inch rows back in April.
The Harrell farm received a packing rain shortly after planting, resulting in a final stand of 77,000. Mother Nature threw another setback at the crop with a 10-day flooding rain in early June. From there, the crop saw ideal weather the rest of the way.
In an interview with The Progressive Farmer, Richard Roth with University of Georgia Extension Grains, said, “The average soybean yield in Georgia is about 45 Bu/A, so what Alex has done has shown us what the genetic potential of soybeans in this environment can be. He’s shown us some techniques that we can use to improve yields.”
Roth is a soybean agronomist responsible for administering the state’s soybean yield contest.
The official record is now 206.7997 bpa.
EDITOR’S TAKE:
Let the CAG team add our congratulations to Alex Harrell for this amazing accomplishment. Not only did he raise the bar, he raised it a lot – over 16 additional bushels! These contests, however, always make us aware of just how little of the genetic potential the average field produces. So, if we are concerned about feeding a growing global population, then we might concentrate even more effort on how we improve average yields to be closer to the genetic potential.
Speaking of potential, are you getting the most from your efforts to sell more trucks to the farmers/ranchers in your area? Be sure you have put your inventory on AgTruckTrader.com. If you need assistance, please contact Jenni Wallace on the CAG team -- she is more than happy to assist you.
