Eric Voisinet is adding another accolade to his resume.
He operates Voisenet Farms in Laingsburg with his wife and dad, serves as a board member for Michigan Corn, and earned a top placement in the National Corn Growers Association Yield Contest this year.
“I’ve been in the yield contest in the past,” he says. “The stars aligned this year, and we got a great yield.”
That yield clocked in at 309 bushels per acre. Voisinet says the favorable spring helped get everything in motion.
“We actually did some spring tillage in different areas of the farm we don’t normally do,” he says. “It was cold and dry—we actually didn’t want to plant corn early, so we planted most of our soybeans before we started corn. Once the ground started warming up, we started putting our corn in the ground. Normally you plant in wet conditions and it’s never good. We’ve never had a beautiful spring as we did this past year.”
He planted DKC54-64RIB, a full-season hybrid from DEKALB.
“The plants really never slowed down much,” says Voisinet. “For the last 10 years, we did plant 20-inch row corn. We do run higher populations. We’ve had good luck with them.”
He says ideal soil conditions were the foundation of his achievements.
“Our soil environment comes first,” says Voisinet. “We soil sample every two to three years, keep our nutrient levels up to snuff with lime on a regular basis. We apply phosphorus and potash when needed. We do tillage, but we try to minimize it as much as we can.”
Voisinet is already preparing for spring by making planter adjustments and making plans for his nutrient management.
