1-06-2025 4:01am

LOCAL FARM WINS

Familiar names dominate corn yield contest

New Jersey lived up to its “Garden State” nickname, with the Santini family placing first in several categories.

Chris Torres, Editor, American Agriculturist

CORN KING: Sam Santini has been called the “corn king” of New Jersey for his impressive yields over the years. He once again scored impressive yields in this year’s NCGA Corn Yield Contest. Photo courtesy of Sam Santini

This year’s National Corn Growers Association Yield Contest saw familiar winners from around the region.

The Santini family of New Jersey once again took national winnings, with Santinis placing first in three national categories.

Sam Santini of Stewartsville placed first in the Conventional Non-Irrigated category, growing an average of 383.4 bushels of Pioneer P14830Q corn. His wife, Chris, was listed as the third-place winner in the No-Till Non-Irrigated category with 324.68 bushels of the same variety.

Robert Santini Sr. of Bloomsbury placed first in the No-Till Non-Irrigated category, growing 337 bushels of Pioneer P1136AM corn. Michelle Santini of Phillipsburg placed first in the Strip, Min, Mulch, Ridge-Till Non-Irrigated category, growing 353.2 bushels of the same variety as Robert.

Harrison Rigdon of Jarrettsville, Md., got third place in the Strip, Min, Mulch, Ridge-Till Non-Irrigated category with 324.06 bushels of Dekalb DKC68-34RIB.

Once again, the overall winner was David Hula of Charles City, Va., with 490 bushels of Pioneer P14830VYH R. Second place overall went to Craig Hula, also of Charles City, with 461.3 bushels of Pioneer P13777PCU E.

Founded in 1728, Rigdon Farms, an 11th generation farm, is now a profitable and well known Harford County, Maryland fixture. We are a member of the Harford County Ag Preservation Board and are a third generation
4-H family.

Rigdon Farms is quite diversified...offering grass-fed Angus cattle, feeder cattle as well as sheep, and a few chickens! We grow soybeans, corn, wheat and barley along with producing hay and straw. We offer fresh seasonal produce such as asparagus, rhubarb, as well as you-pick blueberries at our red barn produce stand.

In addition to our Jarrettsville farm we have 2 other farms in Harford County, one in White Hall and one in Forest Hill, and 2 farms on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.

Please feel free to contact us concerning your interest in our farm, our custom services and our products either by email info@rigdonfarms.com or call us by phone - for a listing of phone numbers click here.

We look forward to hearing from you!
~The Rigdon Family

Here’s the complete list of NCGA first-place winners by state and category from the region:

Maryland

Conventional, Non-Irrigated. Andrea Rigdon, Jarrettsville, Dekalb DKC111-35RIB, 312.5937 bushels

No-Till, Non-Irrigated. John Alexander Rigdon, Jarrettsville, Dekalb DKC66-00RIB, 318.5325 bushels

Strip, Min, Mulch, Ridge-Till Non-Irrigated. David Hill, Kennedyville, Pioneer P1383AM, 230.7638 bushels

No-Till, Irrigated. Julia Rigdon, Jarrettsville, Dekalb DKC59-82RIB, 311.8666 bushels

Strip, Min, Mulch, Ridge-Till Irrigated. Chad Rigdon, Jarrettsville, Dekalb DKC66-06RIB, 321.6404 bushels

Conventional Irrigated. Temple Rhodes, Centreville, Dekalb DKC68-35RIB, 351.9895 bushels