2014 Pennsylvania Soybean Yield Contest Winners Announced
Berks County Farmer Wins Top Honors
HARRISBURG, PA (February 19, 2015) – Berks County farmer Herman Manbeck was the state’s top producer in the annual Pennsylvania Soybean Yield Contest, sponsored by the Pennsylvania Soybean Board. His winning yield was 94.49 bushels per acre. Manbeck also won the honor in the 2012 contest with a yield of 97.06 bushels per acre.
David Wolfskill, also of Berks County, placed second with 86.32 bu./acre, followed by Lancaster County soybean grower Rob Ranck with an 86.21 bu./acre yield.
According to contest coordinator and Penn State Senior Extension Agent Del Voight, 12 of the 24 participating growers exceeded 80 bushels per acre. The mean yield of the contest entrants in 2014 was 75.48 bu./acre, down from the 2013 average of 76.82 bu./acre. Most growers entering the contest planted before May 10 and harvested before October 10, 2014.
“Growers cited a lack of sunlight in the late summer and wet conditions in the spring of 2014 as the major issues with production,” says Voight. “Many reported the incidence of white mold infestations, a common soybean disease during wet conditions.”
The contest recognized not only the state-wide grand champion, but also the top growers in each of four regions of Pennsylvania, based on maturity maps:
1st Place Overall & South Central Region – Herman Manbeck, Womelsdorf, PA
1st Place Northern Region –Richard Snyder, Montoursville, PA
1st place Western Region – Frank Mutnansky, Uniontown, PA
1st Place Central Region – Matt Kehr, Littlestown, PA
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 May 9, 2014 at a seed rate of 190,000 ppa. The final stand of 139,392 ppa was harvested October 6, 2014 at 13.8 % moisture. Manbeck used Pioneer Premium seed treatment, Aproach fungicide for pest management, and Round Up Power Max, Scythe and Envive for herbicides.
For the second consecutive year, Richard Snyder of Lycoming County won top honors in the Northern Region. He planted Pioneer 93M11 for a 45.18 bu./acre yield. Frank Mutnansky, Fayette County, was the top entrant in the West Tier with 71.62 bu./acre yield with Dairyland Seed 2411. Adams County’s Matt Kehr won the top yield honors in the Central Region with 85.8 bu./acre. Kehr planted Mycogen 5N385RR2.
As the top state winner, Herman Manbeck receives a plaque and an all-expense paid 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 2015 in Phoenix.
The contest was launched by the Pennsylvania Soybean Promotion Board in 1992. A summary of the crop production practices from the 2014 contest entrants is available under the Research Summaries tab at www.pasoybean.org.
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.