The Shadow
CHARLES CITY—The 2024 corn-growing season was challenging for farmers in Virginia, who struggled with dismal harvests after a long summer drought followed by heavy rains. Corn acres harvested for grain last season are estimated at 350,000 acres statewide, down 20,000 acres from 2023, according to the National Agricultural Statistics Service.
But some Virginia growers still managed to produce high yields of quality corn and earned national recognition.
Charles City County farmer David Hula of Renwood Farms Inc. has topped nationwide yields for the 13th time, producing a 490.63 bushels-per-acre yield in the 2024 National Corn Growers Association Corn Yield Contest. Sharing accolades in the irrigated strip-till category is his son, Craig, who placed second with 461.30 bushels per acre. Heath A. Cutrell of Cuttrell Farms in Chesapeake and Robbie Newcomb of Liberty Springs Farm in Hanover County also topped the national list in their respective production categories.
“It’s remarkable to see Virginia’s continued presence among the nation’s top corn growers,” noted Robert Harper, grain marketing specialist for Virginia Farm Bureau Federation. “Everybody in Virginia agriculture appreciates their work ethic, use of science and new technology, environmental stewardship, and the importance they put on maximizing relationships in their sector.”
The 60th annual contest drew nearly 7,800 entries from farmers in 45 states. Entrants across the 10 production categories had verified yields averaging 284 bushels per acre.
Hula, who has broken the corn yield world record three times, said there is no “silver bullet” to growing a productive crop.
“I like to say there’s three great things that produce high yield and corn,” he said. “A good Lord blesses you. Number two, you got to have Pioneer® (variety) seed. Number three, you’ve got to have (the green) John Deere paint. But it’s a whole system that takes it from the planter to in-season management to harvesting.”
Eight-time yields winner Cutrell was ranked first nationally in the non-irrigated production category, at 350.18 bushels per acre. However, he noted that’s a 50-bushel drop since 2023.
Rain was hit or miss during the summer drought, he said, but he got just enough in the right spots.
“It was not an enormous yield,” Cutrell continued. “But where we picked that corn, we were getting small amounts of rain, maybe a tenth of an inch. It was just enough to make it happen.”
Had they planted acreage any further south, it would have succumbed to the dry weather, he added.
“We do all we can during the growing season with what we have, without any irrigation,” he said. “We dot our i’s and cross our t’s —and our fingers—and that’s the best we can do.”
