How chicken litter helped young farmer, Mike Daniels, reach higher yields.
Mike Daniels, a generational farmer from Hale, Missouri, had high hopes for this year’s crop. With a goal to hit 125 bushels per acre on beans, the District 2 winner of the Missouri Soybean Association (MSA) Yield Contest wasn’t too shy of his expectation. Reaching an impressive 122.714 bushels in a 250-acre field with Pioneer’s P46A09E variety, Daniels shared he felt both a wave of shock and relief when seeing his final yield results.
“My jaw hit the ground,” said Daniels. “There was a lot of stress going through the year. I was just hoping the rain would maintain, and we could keep the crop healthy.”
Daniels was first in the non-irrigated category, standing up against other triple-digit yields from across the state. This is only his second year entering the yield contest, placing in the top three last year with another three-digit yield at 101. These yields push the state’s average at 48 bushels per acre according to the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS).
Like many farmers across the state, Daniels faced a dry year and struggled with increased input prices. However, he attributes his soybean success to research and little bit of risk.
“I would hate to give all my secrets away,” Daniels joked. “We applied a lot of chicken litter and put organic matter back in the ground. The process was very hands on, and I spent a lot of days walking fields inspecting the crops.”
Daniels also shared he utilized a foliar feed, Big Yield, and put on insecticide to keep the beans clean. Every 7 to 10 days, Daniels would not only apply his foliar feed, but test the soil and take tissue samples to ensure the beans were receiving the essential nutrients they needed to remain strong throughout the growing season.
“I will probably keep implementing these practices on the same acreage,” said Daniels. “Because of input costs and if we were to burn up our beans, there is a lot of risk to carry these practices over to the whole operation.
“However, there are a few things Daniels will continue to try on more of his farm including adding more chicken litter and double fungicide. Daniels also shared he took a gamble in planting early. For the yield contest acres, his plant date was April 7, but he was planting other fields as early as mid-March.
“You can’t be afraid to try new things,” said Daniels. “I would encourage more farmers to try to plant earlier and have beans done before May.”
For Daniels, farming is in his blood. With both his dad and grandpa deeply involved in agriculture and the family farm, Daniels always knew this is what he wanted to do. Daniels farms alongside his dad and three sons, Bronson, Lawson and Kelson, on Daniels’ Custom Farms.
“I wouldn’t trade it for anything,” said Daniels. “And now that my boys are interested in farming, it just makes it all the more worth it.”
Daniels shared he and his three boys all love spending time on the farm. If you were to ask any of them what their favorite part is farming is, they would simply respond just spending time together.
This year, the Daniels boys were able to buy their first piece of ground. Much like Daniels, his sons are quite the entrepreneurs with a strong straw business and selling sweet corn and pumpkins to the local community.
With continued high hopes, Daniels wants to continue to maximize yield so that one day he can maximize the opportunity for his kids to return the farm.
The MSA’s Yield Contest is made possible by generous contributions from the Missouri Soybean Merchandising Council, Ag Power Inc., Asgrow, Baker Implement, BASF, Bayer, Beck’s Hybrids, Channel Seed, Corteva, FMC, John Deere Legacy, MFA Incorporated, MFA Oil, Missouri Crop Improvement Association, Nutrien, Pioneer, ProHar-vest – Resor Seeds, Southern FS, Sydenstricker Nobbe John Deere, and Ursa Farmers Coop.
Participants were able to enter their fields into the competition at the time of harvest, without an entry form. To enter, participants were required to have a designated judge verify their yield results and submit their verified results no later than Nov. 30. Details for next year’s contest will be posted online at mosoy.org and announced in the magazine in the spring 2023.
