Arkansas News Bureau
LITTLE ROCK — The Arkansas Soybean Association is urging producers to enter “The Race for 100 Yield Contest” and compete for a $50,000 prize.
The deadline to enter the competition is Saturday. The soybean harvest will begin next month.
Since the competition began three years ago, no one has reached the 100-bushel level and won the prize.
“The goal is very achievable,” said Gary Sitzer, chairman of the Race for 100. “Recent record yields in Arkansas of 94 bushels have shown producers the yields soybeans are capable of producing.”
Under the contest rules, if more than one farmer reaches the 100-bushel goal, the prize money will be split between them.
Dawn Howe, executive director of the association, said the competition started in response to news that a soybean producer in Missouri had produced 100 bushels.
The contest is administered by the Arkansas Soybean Association and the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service.
The rules stipulate that the 100 bushels must be grown on five to seven acres which have been planted in soybeans in at least one of the last three production years prior to 2009.
Contestants also must have paid the appropriate assessments on soybeans.
Entry forms must be postmarked on or before Saturday and they must be faxed to the association’s office. The faxes must arrive on or before Saturday. The fax number is 501-666-2510.
Entry forms and other information is available at local county extension offices and the Arkansas Soybean Association at 1-800-247-8601.
