BROKEN BOW—David Hula of Charles City, Virginia made his way to Custer County to serve as the main speaker during the Trotter Fertilizer 2018 Growers Summit on Tuesday.
Hula set the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) world record for corn yield in 2017 with 542 bushels per acre. He has consistently placed near the top of the NCGA competition in the no-till/strip till irrigated categories. According to Cornwarstv.com, Hula won his first high-yield competition in 2003 with 322 bushel/acre.
During Tuesday’s Growers Summit held at the One Box Convention Center in Broken Bow, Hula focused on fungicides, insecticides, aerial applications, and overall enhancement of plant health.
“So we’re trying to protect for insects, and we’re trying to control disease. And we’re trying to enhance plant health. We’re trying to make sure we can make your corn kernels denser. And we’ve had good success with that,” Hula said.
Speaking to aerial applications, Hula emphasized the importance of making sure the applications achieve the coverage a grower wants for his/her crops.
Before discussing the planting season timeline, Hula emphasized how soil temperature, moisture based on growth stages, and pests can impact crops. Consistent down pressure, spacing, depth, and even emergence are goals to aim for according to Hula.
“When you start planting corn, you’re probably dangerously close to where you’re done planting corn before any of your corn spike out of the ground. I don’t want to plant all my corn in one to two weeks. Because that first pick off, I picked the wrong one or two weeks to plant corn. So I want my planting season to run about a month just so I can spread risk out. But then also if we have a problem we can fix it before we’re done where the technology now days can help you do that,” Hula said.
The Trotter Fertilizer Growers Summit also featured a lunch and guest speaker Sean Callahan, who started Husker Online.
