Hedrick has seen the benefits of cover crops, grazing livestock, and using manure on his ground, starting with 1.7% organic matter in the 2012 season and increasing to 8.2% by 2022.
“For every one percent increase of organic matter, I’m boosting my water holding capacity to about 25,000 to 27,000 gallons,” he explained. “That means I have the ability now versus 10 years ago to hold another seven acre inches of moisture in the top six inches. Based on corn using ¼ inch of moisture a day during vegetative growth, that is 24 days longer I can go without rain than my neighbor without adding drought stress. And if we’re not stressing the plant, we’re putting on maximized yield.”
The 2022 North Carolina Corn Yield Contest Dryland Division winner set what many believe to be a world-record dryland yield with 459.51 bushels per acre in Catawba County, North Carolina. A first-generation farmer, Hedrick has gone from fighting fires to lining up speaking engagements with agricultural audiences around the world over the last decade.
Frontier Hybrids, Inc. is one of AgVenture’s independently owned and operated seed companies, located in Abernathy, TX. Founded in 1984, Frontier Hybrids is a family-owned seed company dedicated to selling AgVenture brand corn, as well as other seed products including sorghum, alfalfa, wheat, and native grasses.
"It’s like I have an extra person working for me. I have a little less stress I don’t have to endure myself. They really treat you like family. They don’t just treat you like you’re a sale and that’s it."
