Herzberg's passion for farming yields success
Dean Adkins - Fri, 01 Feb 2013 17:22:05 CST
(Villisca)--Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Those words ring true for a lot of folks when it comes to many pursuits in life, but when it comes to yield contests, Mark and Dawnette Herzberg of rural Villisca are happy they went ahead and gave it a shot.
Mark and Dawnette were married in 1981 and have four children: Chelsea, Jackie, Emily and Olivia. Mark's parents are Oliver and Mary Jo Herzberg while Dawnette is the daughter of Marvin and the late Sandy Smith.
The Herzbergs, both Villisca graduates, farm southeast of the Montgomery County town where they raise corn and soybeans. Like a lot of Villisca-area farmers, Mark and his dad used to raise hogs but got out of the business when the market plummeted back in the mid-90's. That was when Oliver decided to retire and Mark began focusing 100% of his farming attention to row crops.
Mark and Dawnette enjoy their Allis Chalmers vintage tractor collection and in their spare time get a kick out of participating in antique tractor pulls around the area.
A Dekalb-Asgrow dealer since 1983, Mark had entered yield contests in the past but it was the drought year of 2012 that brought out the best in one particular piece of Herzberg ground adjacent to the East Nodaway River. Entered in the National Corn Growers Association Yield Contest, in the individual state competition, this piece of ground yielded 257 bushels to the acre, giving Mark and Dawnette 2nd place in the AA No-Till Division for Iowa.
Why did this ground produce so well in a drought year? Well, mark is thankful to God for blessing him with some good soil in this field, silty clay loam, the planting date of April 27th proved to be beneficial and timely and adequate fertilizer rates were helpful too. Good overall air flow and some shade from the trees next to the river didn't hurt anything either.
In the end, yields from this field helped the overall financial picture in a year that was challenging for producers in KMAland and beyond.
Mark encourages more farmers to get involved in yield competitions as he says the knowledge gained is definitely worth the effort and commitment.
Congratulations to Mark and Dawnette, and if you'd like to learn more about the Herzberg's involvement in this yield contest feel free to check out Mark's video below!
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