2015 Pennsylvania Soybean Yield Contest Winners Announced
Berks County farmer wins top honors for second consecutive year
HARRISBURG, PA (February 17, 2016) – For the second consecutive year, Berks County farmer Herman Manbeck was the state’s top producer in the 2015 Pennsylvania Soybean Yield Contest, sponsored by the Pennsylvania Soybean Board. His winning yield was 101.77 bushels per acre. Manbeck won the honor in the 2014 contest with a yield of 94.49 bushels per acre.
Berks County farmer David Wolfskill, of Wernersville, Pa., placed second in the commonwealth for the second consecutive year with 96.15 bu./acre. In third place state-wide was Lancaster County soybean grower Merle Stoltzfus of Lititz, Pa., with a 95.33 bu./acre yield.
According to contest coordinator and Penn State Senior Extension Agent Del Voight, 16 of the 35 participating growers exceeded 80 bushels per acre. The mean yield of the contest entrants in 2015 was 73.42 bu./acre, down from the 2014 average of 75.48 bu./acre.
“Growers throughout the state cited a dry August and too much or too little rainfall as the major issues impacting yields,” says Voight. “Some also cited white mold infestation and damage from Japanese beetles, deer and groundhogs as challenges in 2015.”
94.3% of the growers entering the contest used a seed treatment. Those who used a seed treatment averaged 74.41 bu./acre while producers who did not use treated seed averaged 57.08 bu./acre.
The contest recognized not only the state-wide grand champion, but also the top growers in each of five regions of Pennsylvania, based on maturity maps:
- 1st Place Overall & South Central Region – Herman Manbeck (Womelsdorf, Pa., Berks County) 101.77 bu./acre
- 1st Place Central Region – Leslie Bowman (Chambersburg, Pa., Franklin County) 74.14 bu./acre
- 1st Place Southeast Region – John Frederick (New Hope, Pa., Bucks County) 73.39 bu./acre
- 1st Place Northern Region – Richard Snyder (Montoursville, Pa., Lycoming County) 69.55 bu./acre
- 1st place Western Region – Thomas Hoovler (Fredonia, Pa., Mercer County) 66.15 bu./acre
In addition to the statewide title, Manbeck was the South Central Region winner, planting Pioneer 35T58R in 15” rows following corn. The crop was planted with a corn planter using no-till techniques on April 29, 2015 at a seeding rate of 190,000 ppa. The final stand of 133,500 ppa was harvested on October 23, 2015 at 12.8 % moisture. Manbeck used Pioneer Premium seed treatment, Aproach fungicide for pest management, and Envive Metal Round Up for herbicides.
Franklin County’s Leslie Bowman won the top yield honors in the Central Region with 74.14 bu./acre. Bowman planted Pioneer 93Y84. John Frederick, from Bucks County, was the top producer in the Southeast Region. He planted Hubner HS 34A16 and yielded 73.39 bu./acre. For the third consecutive year, Richard Snyder of Lycoming County won top honors in the Northern Region. He planted Doeblers D83012 RR for a 69.55 bu./acre yield. Thomas Hoovler, Mercer County, was the top entrant in the West Tier with 66.15 bu./acre yield with Asgrow 30-33.
As the top state winner, Herman Manbeck receives a plaque and a trip for two to the Commodity Classic, the annual joint convention of the American Soybean Association, National Corn Growers Association, National Association of Wheat Growers, and the National Grain Sorghum Producers, held in March 3-6, 2016 in New Orleans. The Regional winners also receive a trip to the 2016 Commodity Classic.
The contest was launched by the Pennsylvania Soybean Promotion Board in 1992. A summary of the crop production practices from the 2015 contest entrants is available on the Yield Contest page at www.pasoybean.org. You’ll find the page under Forms>Growers.
About the Pennsylvania Soybean Board
The Pennsylvania Soybean Board is a farmer-controlled Board responsible for managing Pennsylvania’s share of funds received from the nationwide Soybean Checkoff program. The funding is available under an assessment program, approved by Congress in 1990, under which soybean farmers contribute 50 cents of every $100 they receive for their beans at the first point of sale. Funds are used to develop markets, educate consumers, and research new ways to utilize and produce soybeans more efficiently.
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