Achieves 300 bushels per acre adding to history of improving yields and family ties ...

George Beardmore of Dorchester was recently honored for his third-place finish in the 2020 National Corn Grower Association Yield Contest for Iowa with a yield of 300.39 bushels per acre using Pioneer 1366AM. The photo above represents a 68-year history of yield improvement from that same field where this year’s yield award was won and an even longer history of family ties to the same farm. Pictured above, left to right: Aaron Prestemon is the local Pioneer agronomist and team member who has been advising the Beardmore farm, which happens to be the same farm that George Beardmore now lives (and where this photo was taken) and also the farm Prestemon’s great-great-great-grandfather, William Beardmore, bought in 1872; Chris Beardmore is holding his father George’s award from the 1985 Allamakee Masters Contest for a runner-up yield finish of 204.97 bushels per acre; Jim Beardmore, George’s brother, is displaying an award from a DeKalb contest from 1952 when their grandfather, Earl Beardmore, had a yield of 107.81 bushels per acre; and George is displaying his recent National Corn Grower third-place award. All of the award-winning yields were produced in the same field, resulting in an average increase of 2.83 bushels per acre per year for the past 68 years. Dennis Lyons and Peggy Berns from Freedom Bank in Waukon verified the yield results for this year’s contest. Submitted photo.