The results are in for the 2003 National Corn Yield Contest... and Great Lakes Hybrids is on top... again!

On Tuesday, December 16, the National Corn Growers' Association released the winners of their annual National Corn Yield Contest.

Great Lakes captured two of the nine First-Place National Winners and 23 state champions in this elite, unbiased, national arena.

"Our corn breeding program is third-largest in the industry and our new, proprietary products are coming to the forefront in every independent test we put them ," says Great Lakes’ general manager, Mike Stephenson.

Chad Yaw of Imperial, Nebraska had the third highest yield in the entire contest with his first-place national winner in the No-Till Irrigated category. His entry of 6148RR yielded 314.2645 bushels per acre. Yaw's yield makes him the first member of the Great Lakes Hybrids’ 300-Bushel Club. Chad will receive $10 per bushel for his record-setting entry.

Jerry Griffith of Mayfield, Kentucky captured the fourth National Championship for Griffith Farms with his entry of 6631Bt that yielded 235.5028 bushels per acre in the Ridge-Till Non-Irrigated class.

Great Lakes’ 23 State Champions are the most winners the company has achieved in a single year. Since 1985, Great Lakes has garnered nine National and 177 State Championships.

"We increased our industry-leading winning percentage to 19.4% with another super performance year. This year, Great Lakes won 22 times out of 74 Midwestern entries - that's one win in every three entries," added Jeff Oesterreicher, sales and marketing manager.

Tex Young, director of agronomic services says, “Between our outstanding NCGA results and the super performance in the F.I.R.S.T. (Farmer’s Independent Research of Seed Technologies) Trials, the performance of Great Lakes’ new, key products demonstrates our relentless commitment to corn breeding.”

Great Lakes Hybrids
25 Champions in the 2003
National Corn Yield Contest

1st Place NATIONAL
Chad Yaw - Imperial, NE
No-Till Irrigated
6148RR - 314.2645 Bu/A.

1st Place NATIONAL
Jerry Griffith - Mayfield, KY
A Ridge Till Non-Irrigated
6631Bt - 235.5028 Bu/A.

Kevin Eickholt - Chesaning, MI
1st Place - MI - A No-Till Non-Irrigated
5929Bt - 222.9012 Bu/A.

Chad Yaw - Imperial, NE
1st Place - NE - No-Till Irrigated
6148RR - 314.2645 Bu/A.

Jerry Griffith - Mayfield, KY
1st Place - KY - A Ridge Till Non-Irrigated
6631Bt - 235.5028 Bu/A.

Janice Eickholt - Chesaning, MI
1st Place - MI - A Ridge-Till Non-Irrigated
5929Bt - 207.2939 Bu/A.

John Griffith - Mayfield, KY
1st Place - KY - Ridge-Till Irrigated
6344Bt - 239.2154 Bu/A.

Stephanie Zelinko - Chesaning, MI
1st Place - MI - Ridge-Till Irrigated
5929Bt - 197.7654 Bu/A.

Otte Farms - Sauk Centre, MN
1st Place - MN - Ridge-Till Irrigated
4623Bt - 211.9448 Bu/A.

Randy Valentine - Puryear, KY
1st Place - KY - Ridge-till Irrigated
6631Bt - 205.2991 Bu/A.

Jim Motycka - Napoleon, OH
1st Place - OH - Irrigated
6344Bt - 231.6221 Bu/A.

Meadow Lane Farms - Spring Green, WI
1st Place - WI - Irrigated
5961Bt - 271.6414 Bu/A.

JM Souza - Lodi, CA
2nd Place - CA - Class A Non-Irrigated
6631Bt - 251.3909 Bu/A.

Greg Larson - Haxtun, CO
2nd Place - CO - A No-till Non-Irrigated
Quad-5 - 96.9086 Bu/A.

Patty Griffith - Mayfield, KY
2nd Place - KY - No-Till Irrigated
6631Bt - 236.2275 Bu/A.

David P Eickholt - Chesaning, MI
2nd Place - MI - No-Till Irrigated
Quad-5Bt - 224.2744 Bu/A.

Gene & Brian Miller Farms - Sauk Centre, MN
2nd Place - MN - No-Till Irrigated
4623Bt - 224.9282 Bu/A.

Kent Yaw - Imperial, NE
2nd Place - NE - No-Till Irrigated
6350BtRR - 286.8197 Bu/A.

Charles Eickholt - Chesaning, MI
2nd Place - MI - A Ridge-Till Non-Irrigated
Quad-5Bt - 172.8468 Bu/A.

Robert Ternet - New Haven, IN
3rd Place - IN - AA No-till Non-Irrigated
5961 - 222.8377 Bu/A.

Eickholt Seed Farms - Chesaning, MI
3rd Place - MI - No-Till Irrigated
Quad-5Bt - 221.2408 Bu/A.

Glenda Hinkebein - Chaffee, MO
3rd Place - MO - No-Till Irrigated
6631Bt - 245.8613 Bu/A.

Charles Hinkebein - Chaffee, MO
3rd Place - MO - AA Ridge-Till Non-Irrigated
6631Bt - 246.8880 Bu/A.

Hinkebein Farms - Chaffee, MO
3rd Place - MO - Ridge-Till Irrigated
6631Bt - 261.4502 Bu/A.

Reba Griffith - Mayfield, KY
3rd Place - KY - Irrigated
6344Bt - 234.5201 Bu/A.