Middletown farmer is highest-yielding corn producer in Maryland
May 8—For the seventh year in a row, a Middletown farmer has been recognized as one of the highest-producing corn growers in the nation.
Drew Haines placed first in the state in the National Corn Growers Association's 2020 contest. He harvested 324 bushels of corn per acre of his fields.
In years past, Haines has been recognized as a national winner. He won first place nationally in the no-till, non-irrigated category in 2019, when his yield was the best it had ever been at 422 bushels per acre. That broke the state's record — which no Maryland farmer managed to beat this year.
This year, Haines' yield fell due to a long dry spell between late June and early August, he said. But he was still "tickled to death" to be recognized as a state winner.
"I was really amazed that we could even get that much corn," he said. "I was pretty surprised that I was able to do what I did."
The annual contest measures corn yield at the national and state levels. It recognizes farmers in an array of categories, based on whether they till their land or use mechanical watering, among other factors. In 2020, the highest yield in Haines' category came from a farmer in Scranton, South Carolina, who yielded 387 bushels per acre.
NCGA supervisors have to travel to contestants' farms, watch them harvest, and weigh their corn in order to judge them, said Haines, who has been growing corn for nearly 30 years.
Even as the coronavirus ravaged the country last year, Haines said his operation remained largely unaffected.
"Agriculture keeps on moving, no matter what," he said. "Everybody wants to eat."
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