If you really want to raise a good grain sorghum crop, you can't cut corners. That is the premise by which Cody Sassmann grows what he calls 'milo' on his Gasconade County farm.

In this east central Missouri county, the average yield for grain sorghum runs between 60 and 70 bushels per acre. Sassmann typically sees 110 to 120 bushels. However, last year his farm average reached 160 bushels. And in one particular field he saw yields top 207 bushels.

Sassmann won the no-till, non-irrigated category of the 2014 National Sorghum Producers yield and Management Contest with Pioneer 84G62. He credits the high yield to healthy plant stands, genetics and soil fertility.

Changing planting tactics

TWIN ROW WORKS: Cody Sassmann won the National Sorghum Yield Contest with 207 bushels. He found that switching to twin row planting increased yield by 20 bushels per acre.

Sassmann starts with the seed. He plants only Pioneer. "I have tried different varieties in the past," he says, "but Pioneer works in my management system."

Then two years ago, Sassamann modified his planting regimen from 30-inch rows to 15-inch. The change really improved standability and weed control. "It created a great canopy," he says. "I could walk out into the field and there was not a weed to be found."

But the shift in planting strategy also created greater yields. Sassmann saw an increase of 40-bushels per acre. "It made a huge change in my operation."

Finding promise in fungicides

In a quest to improve plant health and push yields even higher, he decided to dabble in a practice common in soybeans and corn. Sassmann applied fungicides. "I figured if it is helping yields on those crops it could help sorghum," he says.

Research from the University of Nebraska and Texas A&M suggests that the practice does not improve plant health and recommends only using fungicides for foliar diseases in grain sorghum. However, Sassmann conducted his own on-farm test and found staggering results.

"I was getting a 23 bushel per acre difference," he adds. The first year he treated only half of his grain sorghum acres with fungicide. Now, every acre gets an application.

Searching the soil

Another new management practice in 2014 was the addition of GYPSOIL brand gypsum. In the spring, he applied the product on roughly 400 acres of sorghum, soybeans and hay. Sassmann used a rate of one ton per acre in an effort to flush magnesium from his tight clay soils to improve soil structure. "Plus, I wanted to add sulfur," he explains.

"Sorghum is in the grass family and it really likes sulfur," he says. GYPSOIL provides 17% to 20% calcium and 13% to 16% sulfate sulfur. "This sulfur is the cheapest source I can get," he adds.

Once again, he conducted his own farm trial. He applied half the field with GYPSOIL at one ton per acre and left the other half untreated. During the growing season, he saw visual differences. Then at harvest the yield monitor provided the proof--there was a 10 to 15 bushel difference in yield.

"The yield was phenomenal," he says, adding that the grain heads extended farther from the plant making it easier to harvest. "It was the prettiest sorghum I've ever grown."

And he says the soil was more mellow and seemed to infiltrate water better than before using gypsum.

Sassmann says that by paying close attention to row width, seed selection, crop inputs and soil health, farmers can realize high yields. "You have to be will to try things out on your farm and see what works best with your soils," he adds. "Like any other crop you have to manage it properly to get the results."