160 Bushel Soybeans

Kip Cullers of Purdy, Missouri

"Make sure you're always trying new things. What's the worst that can happen?" says Kip Cullers, the current world soybean yield record holder, who spoke at a grower meeting in Morris on Tuesday. "Your plants may die and you'll have to re-plant? My mind's always thinking of what we can do to push these plants even further."

Cullers , who farms near Purdy, Missouri, harvested a record 160.6 bushels per acre of soybeans last fall, breaking his previous world record of 154.57 bushels.

"I was actually disappointed with what we got for the beans. I thought they could do closer to 170 and 180," he says. The record yield was based on a 40 acre plot, but Cullers says his farm - K&K Farms - averaged around 100 bushels per acre.

The Pioneer 94Y71 variety was grown on irrigated, conventionally-tilled Newtonia silt loam soil, fertilized with poultry manure from nearby barns.

Paying attention to detail is a major part of Cullers' achievement, as he encourages producers to scout their fields daily.

He recommends putting soybeans in the ground with a planter rather than a drill.

"To me a drill is really no more than a semi-controlled spill," he says.

Cullers notes it's also important to push plant populations.

"Any light hitting the ground is wasted energy. In order to reach these yields you have to have as much photosynthesis happening as you can."

However, a thick canopy can lead to other challenges, including white mould, which Cullers controls with two applications of Headline fungicide.

Plant height is another problem that he has had to work with, with beans exceeding 6 feet in height. Cullers had Manitoba growers cringing when he explained how he solved the height-related challenges. He applies a tank mix, which includes Cobra herbicide and crop oil, at the second trifoliate to kill the main growing point, which causes the plant to branch out.

"Because of this we have around 100 to 135 internodes on the typical plant in one of our contest fields," he says.

Cullers has also held several National Corn Growers Association yield records for irrigated corn.

Several hundred growers were at the Southern Manitoba Convention Centre to year Cullers speak. The event was organized by Pioneer Hi-Bred.

Producers listening to Cullers speak.