(Wayland, MI) - A southwest Michigan farmer broke his own record in defending his title for winter wheat yields against other growers from near the Great Lakes and beyond.

 

Nick Suwyn harvested 182 bushels of wheat per acre.

 

He outdistanced the second place finisher by 12 bushels per acre in the Great Lakes Yield Enhancement Network contest.

 

He was also the first place finisher in the same contest last year with 173 bushels of wheat per acre, which was the previous high mark in the five year old competition.

 

“I’m excited about it and looking forward to improve on it next year,” he said.

 

Suwyn, 42, of Wayland was also the overall winner against other growers in the state for the second year in a row in the 2024 contest held annually by the Michigan Wheat Program.

 

His latest yield was also a personal best for Suwyn, who has finished as high as second place in the national wheat yield competition.

 

He credits his success to closely monitoring his crops from beginning until end in order to apply nitrogen fertilizer, if necessary, to quickly help his wheat overcome any stress it might be under due to factors like weather.

 

“You got to feed it.  You got to continue to study it and try new things and see where you can improve,” he said.

 

He believes Mother Nature was the difference maker in pushing his yields to their highest ever.

 

“We had good weather.  A great spring,” he said.

 

Suwyn raises over 500 acres of wheat along with about 3,000 acres of corn and soybeans on ground in Allegan and Barry counties.

 

The Great Lakes Yield Enhancement Network contest included growers from Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Wisconsin, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, New York, Washington and Ontario, Canada.

 

Dennis Pennington, a Michigan State University wheat specialist and member of the GLYEN steering committee, said the network is about discovering how the top producing wheat growers raised their crops.

 

The data is then posted online for farmers to access and use in their fields to try and improve their results.

 

Pennington said wheat growers from outside the Great Lakes were allowed into the contest because they heard about the network and wanted access to the information such as how much nitrogen each top producer put on their crops.

 

How growers from the more distant areas raised their crops is then obtained to expand the amount of data available at greatlakesyen.com, he said.

 

“It’s kind of a network with the goal of farmers helping farmers grow better wheat.  We just try to put all of the pieces in place to make that happen,” he said.

 

Suwyn also finished in first place in the GLYEN contest for the amount of wheat produced above the potential of his crop.

 

His yields were 118 percent above their potential based on factors like amounts of sunshine and rain received during the growing season and water available to irrigate.

 

Suwyn also credited everyone from his agronomist on down to workers planting and spraying the crop for his achievements.

 

“It’s a whole team of people that come together to make this all happen,” he said.