Kip Cullers wants to push yields where no one has before. The southwest Missouri farmer is on a quest to set a new corn yield record, and he’s well on his way.

In his second year of entering the National Corn Grower’s Association National Corn Yield Contest, Cullers placed in four categories. Also in 2006, he set the world soybean yield record at 139.39 bu. per acre.

Cullers’ highest corn yield this year—347.26 bu. per acre—came from a no-till field. That impressive yield didn’t come without a few tense moments sparked by two severe wind events.

When the corn was 12’ tall, a 70-mph wind laid it flat. Cullers said he nearly panicked when he could see clear across his fields. But, throughout the day, the sun drew the corn back up to vertical stalks. The second wind event was only 10 days later, but the sun again resurrected the corn. Cullers credits the plants’ stalk health for being able to withstand such events.

In addition to corn and soybeans, Cullers grows green beans, spinach, zucchini and other greens. He and his business partner, Kevin Keeling, farm more than 6,000 acres, raise cattle and more than 200,000 chickens, and maintain a horticultural nursery.

Corn became part of Cullers’ crop rotation to reintroduce organic matter into the soil and to cut down on disease pressure in his vegetable crop. Even so, it wasn’t until two years ago that he saw an opportunity to challenge himself to push corn yields higher and enter the yield contest.

“I always have to have a special project, and I had maxed out yields in growing vegetables,” he says. “We’re just seeing where we can push yields with corn. Then, I take what I learn from the contest fields and apply it to normal production practices.”

Cullers attributes his yield success to weather and luck. Of course, he’s too modest to point out other important factors—like how meticulous he is and his willingness to take chances.

Drawing upon his experience as a vegetable grower, Cullers uses a proactive approach to managing disease and insects. He honed his attention to detail with his vegetable crops. He scouts every field every day he says, and he’s in his contest fields two to three times a day.

Forget stand and ear counts. When Kip Cullers looks at his corn fields, he’s counting kernels. In regular fields, Cullers plants corn in 30” rows at 40,000 to 46,000 plants per acre. However, in his contest fields, he packs in 56,000 to 70,000 plants per acre in twin rows.

When picking seed, Cullers believes what you plant is what you’ll harvest. In soybeans, “bigger seed will produce bigger beans, ” he says. “[In corn], a heavier seed weight will mean heavier kernels.” This is a change from the days when he mostly chopped his corn for silage and wanted larger plants for more fodder. The son of a dairy farmer, he spent years raising silage for area dairies.

In his contest fields, Cullers plants offensive hybrids that are tolerant to high populations, whereas in his commercial acres he matches characteristics and traits to the environment.

He uses auto-guidance on his planter to plant the first row and then shifts 8” from the initial row to plant its twin. Planting east to west allows the plants to best use the sun throughout the day. He plants directly into green bean stubble.

The twin-row, high-populated fields were so thick with corn that roots started to appear on the soil’s surface. No sunlight could get through the dense corn. To deal with the large amount of residue left in his contest fields, he disk rips his fields—unless green beans are the next crop. In that case, he moldboard plows so the green bean pickers won’t pick up the residue.

Cullers’ focus stays near the soil surface—about 4” deep where he says the plants pull 94% of their nutrients. He plants 2” deep. When it comes to nutrient and water management, his practice is to supply on demand. His soils are Newtonia red—a well-drained soil type—and run 15” deep before turning to a thick red clay.

Half of his cropland is irrigated, but Cullers doesn’t take time away from scouting his fields to check his pivots. Using a radio transmitting system, each pivot is wired to send a text message to Cullers’ cell phone if it has any problem delivering the water. To maximize yields, he’s careful to never stress the plant and waters at night to reduce respiration.

For nutrient management, Cullers applies chicken litter, granulated nutrients and runs liquefied nutrients through the pivots. Even though it’s more expensive, Cullers uses liquefied ammonium sulfate to get the higher quality. He spoon-feeds the crop through the pivot, applying between 5 lb. or 6 lb. to 10 lb. or 15 lb., depending on the crop stage.

“We soil sample every year, but not for the same reason as many other farmers,” he says. “We have to test our soil to stay in compliance with the vegetable companies.”

Cullers, energized by his high-yield success, won’t be planting a winter spinach crop to leave more time for corn planting. He believes we have yet to see how far corn and soybean yields can be pushed.

“I really think we can get 200 bu. soybeans,” he says. As for the corn field that yielded the winning 347.26 bu. per acre in 2006, “This field will not be planted with green beans until we get 500 bu. per acre corn.”

Now, that’s a man on a mission.

Kip’s Top Corn-Growing Tips

• Use insecticide seed treatment.
• Plant into moisture to jump-start germination.
• Water at night to reduce respiration.
• Focus on keeping plants healthy, especially V3 to V7.
• Apply fungicide one week before tasselling.
• Do an on-farm population study.
• Scout every day.

Kip’s Top Soybean-Growing Tips

• Select large seed varieties capable of big yields.
• Keep in mind each bloom is a potential pod.
• Water regularly, every 48-hours.
• Water during the day to cool plant.
• Practice preventive fungi and insect management.
• Eliminate weeds when beans are less than 1” high.
• Plant on-farm plots to study non-yield characteristics.
• Scout every day.

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