Submitted Photo From left to right, Wyatt Thompson, Randy Fyllesvold, Pastor Craig Schmidt, Charlie Adams and Larry Peterson gather on March 2 for a donation of $2,100 was divided up between Antler Outlaws, Northwest Landowners and Bethel Lutheran Church of Antler.

The Hefty Seed Company in Mohall held its third annual seed yield contest in 2019.

Charlie Adams, the general manager of the Mohall location, said the 2019 contest was still amazing despite the poor conditions. The copious amounts of rain made fields sloppy and farmers had a difficult time harvesting their crops between their equipment getting stuck and some of their crops being in rough shape.

The uncooperative weather caused Hefty Seed Company to try something different to figure out the yield amount of the contestants’ soybeans, corn and wheat. The first two years, they weighed the crops. Last year, they had to determine the yield of each farmer’s five acres by using software called Farmers Edge and Climate FieldView.

Farmers Edge collects data by using weather stations and telematics devices that are put directly on the farmer’s land to provide accurate yield data. It shows temperature, wind speeds, the direction in which the wind is blowing, amounts of precipitation, dewpoint and several other things that are essential to having a successful harvest.

Climate FieldView is another piece of software that farmers use to optimize yields, which agronomic practices would work best, check soil types and many more. It is available in the Play Store on Android devices and in the App Store on Apple devices.

The 2019 contest was split into three divisions: soybeans, corn and wheat. The first two years, only soybeans and corn were grown to compete. Last year, they added their AgriPro wheat. “It’s wheat country up here,” Adams said,” and we’ve just been seeing real impressive yields with some of our customers.”

In order to enter the contest, there is only one requirement. The farmers must buy their seeds from Hefty Seed Company in Mohall. Otherwise, it’s open for anyone to participate. The amount that each farmer is allowed to enter is five acres in each division.

Once the growers purchase their seed from Hefty Seed Company, they are automatically eligible to compete. They are informed of the contest and Adams said they have up until harvest to decide if they want to enter the contest or not.

Each farmer can enter into more than one division if they so choose. The higher the winners’ yield amounts were, the more they donated. “There are a few people that donated above and beyond what the yield calculated out, as well,” Adams mentioned, “which is cool.”

Adams said that over the three years, new growers have stepped up and joined in. Young farmers like Chase Holsten and his brother Trey Holsten are in their 20s. Chase Holsten helped his grandfather on their farm and remembered sleeping on the floor in the tractor between his grandfather’s feet. While he was in school, he helped his family on their farm during the football season.

After Chase Holsten graduated from Mohall-Lansford-Sherwood Public School, he had the option to continue to help on the farm or to do something completely different. He chose to continue farming. He still occasionally helps his family and he also runs his own operation on land that he rents from his family.

He’s been running his own operation since 2013, so this upcoming season will be his seventh. He participated in the contest and donated $2,700 to the Tolley Fire Department, long with Trey Holsten.

“A majority (of farmers) have done it again for the third year,” Adams commented, “which is amazing because it was such a hard year and commodity prices were down. The weather was horrible, harvest conditions were horrible, very stressful.” Despite the weather of last year’s harvest, the Holsten brothers persevered and still completed collecting their yields. Adams commended the young men for donating despite having to “pinch pennies on the operation.”

Peter Gates is another farmer that participated in the soybean division. He had done soybeans and corn one year, but last year he just entered soybeans. “Moisture was an issue, so it just seemed like just went on forever. (…) It was a mess. We were getting stuck three, four times a day,” Gates described. Later in the season as the ground firmed up with the colder temperatures, things went a bit smoother.

Gates had gotten into farming six years ago, being the family business. “It’s a good thing to be involved in, and Hefty’s pretty good about supporting the farmers and the community, as well,” he said.

Farmers had to take a bit of extra time to finish harvesting their crops, so the award banquet was postponed until March 3, where the winners were announced and donations were given.

So far, the Mohall Hefty Seed Company is the only location that is holding the contest to give back to the community. There were quite a few repeat contestants, and Adams was glad to see that those farmers were so dedicated to giving back by doing the contest again and again.

For the 2020 season, Adams said that he plans to add canola for a fourth division. They started carrying it and quite a few farmers grow canola, so it seemed like a fitting addition.

Wyatt Thompson is the lead agronomist for Mohall’s Hefty Seed Company. He went to North Dakota State University, doing an internship with Hefty in Mohall for two years. After graduation, he worked part-time as a sales agronomist, then moved up the chain to lead agronomist. He said his favorite part of his job is grower interaction. “I work with some very, very good people.”

Thompson has worked on his family’s farm and “ran cows,” so it was something he had an interest in. When the opportunity arose while he was in college, he took it. “It’s a very good place to intern, lots of opportunities, it’s close to home, and very good people to work with,” he said of his internship.

As the lead agronomist, he helps test soil and helps the farmer determine which crop would be the most prosperous in that particular plot of land. Agronomists also find ways to increase the productivity of the soil and improve seed quality to produce better yields.

Adams said he wants to continue to seed yield contest as an annual event to give back to the community and farmers can donate to anyone they choose. They may give their whole donation to one place, or divide it up into portions and distribute it to many different places.

For the 2019 contest, the amount of $46,261 was donated to charitable causes. Over the course of the first three years, they have raised a grand total of $100, 760.

In a press release, Adams said, “The credit goes to the farmers who battled the toughest harvest conditions anyone has seen in generations. For them to still give this much back to the community speaks volumes to the character and resolve of our farm families.”

Several organizations were given donations. Dakota Hope Clinic of Minot, Little Flower Catholic Church of Minot, Zion Lutheran Church of Mohall, Mohall Fire Department and EMS, Bethel Lutheran Church of Antler, Northwest Landowners Association, Antler Outlaws, Antler Cemetery Association, St. James Catholic Church of Sherwood and the Westhope local volunteer fire department.