David Hula is no stranger to breaking yield records. The Virginia farmer has topped the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) National Corn Yield Contest six times since 2003 and has twice set a world record in the irrigated strip, min, mulch and ridge-till category. Hula set a new world corn yield record in 2023 with a yield of 623.8439 bushels per acre on ground that he strip-tills with an ETS SoilWarrior. This eclipsed the previous record of 616.1953 bushels per acre set in 2019, also set by Hula and using a SoilWarrior.
“Where we have run the SoilWarrior, we have harvested the best corn we have ever harvested in the history of Renwood Farms,” says David Hula. “Our best emergence was where we ran the SoilWarrior.”
While growing high yields requires more than the right piece of equipment, precision placement of fertilizer, tillage method and seedbed prep, he is impressed with how much value these changes have added to his farm.
Fueling ROI with Fertilizer Placement
Since 1986, Hula was an avid no-tiller until he saw the SoilWarrior by Environmental Tillage Systems. Strip-till offered him the opportunity to increase yield potential without jeopardizing return on investment (ROI) or soil health. The ability to precisely place fertilizer and create an optimal seedbed in one pass were two key reasons Hula decided to try the SoilWarrior system.
“We're only tilling about a 7-inch band of our soil, leaving the rest of it on our 30-inch rows in a no-till environment,” says Hula. “Then add a little bit of fertilizer, some humic acid and other micronutrients as we go. Our ride is so much smoother. Our seed placement is even better, and we're getting uniform emergence.”
By using variable-rate technology for precise fertilizer placement and only applying fertilizer in the tilled area of the field, Hula is able to feed the crop exactly where it is growing. This way, every dollar he spends on crop nutrition precisely fuels performance.
“Growers can't afford to over-fertilize, and we sure don't want to,” says Hula, who knows he has a good crop by the way it comes out of the ground. “If corn comes up within six, seven days and so many GDUs (Growing Degree Units) from the time we plant with even emergence, then we know we have an opportunity to do something special. We got that picket fence row stand on strip-till acres.”
Less Maintenance, More In-Field Efficiency
In addition to its agronomic benefits, the SoilWarrior offers Hula peace of mind. The system is durable, easily rolling over rocks in his sandy loam soil at 8-10 miles per hour. It requires little maintenance throughout the season, which means fewer stops and more efficiency in the field.
“There is not a whole lot of daily maintenance to a SoilWarrior,” says Hula. “We've run it on some coarse sandy loam soils, and the life of the blades is much better than I expected. I’ve seen a lot of other strip-till equipment out there, and none are nearly as well built as the SoilWarrior.”
Environmental and Economic Advantages
The land Hula farms is some of the oldest farmed ground in the nation, some of it dating back to the early 1600s. He’s proud of its history and takes responsibility for protecting it so that his son and grandson can continue to farm it. The other side of sustaining the business is ensuring it remains profitable. Strip-tillage offers him the opportunity to do both.
“We're environmentalists and can't afford to let our soil leave the farm,” says Hula. “Erosion control is extremely important to everybody because the soil is our resource. We sure don't want to jeopardize it, but we still need to remain profitable."
“It’s great when there’s harmony between doing good things environmentally that also have an economic advantage,” says Hula. “SoilWarrior is one of the things we're going to continue in 2024.”