JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (DTN) -- Successful row-crop farmers know that improving production lies somewhere between "if it ain't broke, don't fix it," and "betting the farm." Making gains means finessing the fundamentals while adding innovation that bins more bushels year over year.

Chris and Santino "Sam" Santini Jr. of Stewartsville, New Jersey, have embraced this philosophy, and it's led to award-winning yields -- again.

On Thursday, Dec. 11, the National Sorghum Producers (NSP) announced the winners of the 2025 National Sorghum Yield Contest. Chris Santini was named this year's Bin Buster award recipient, producing sorghum that yielded 239.93 bushels per acre (bpa) in an irrigated production system. It was her second time in the past three seasons to receive the honor.

Organized by National Sorghum Producers since 1985, the yield contest initially began as a means of increasing membership and educating producers on new management techniques. This year's 18 national winners represented no-till, conventional till and irrigated production systems in 10 states from coast to coast. Their entries averaged 196.16 bpa, with seven entries exceeding 200 bpa.

"I want to congratulate all of the 2025 National Sorghum Yield Contest winners on their outstanding achievements," NSP CEO Tim Lust said. "It's inspiring to see growers like Chris achieve such impressive yields. These accomplishments reflect the dedication, innovation and resilience that continue to move our sorghum industry forward. I'm incredibly proud of what these farmers have achieved and look forward to celebrating their success at Commodity Classic."

GROWING IN THE GARDEN STATE

Sam's grandfather, Dominic, immigrated to the United States from Italy more than a century ago and established the farm. Today, Sam and Chris are the third generation to run the operation in Warren County in northwest New Jersey, about 60 miles from New York City. In addition to sorghum, they raise corn and soybeans on about 1,600 acres.

"We don't have a big market here for sorghum, but we're able to sell it for bird seed," Chris said. "We just like having it in the rotation."

The field where Chris' winning entry was planted had produced yield contest winners in the past, both corn and sorghum. For the third consecutive year, they planted Pioneer 85P58, a variety with a relative maturity of 113 days that the company describes as having good standability, exceptional test weight and adequate head exertion in a moderately tall plant.

Prior to planting, 2 tons of poultry manure and 150 pounds of potash were applied per acre to the field, which had been soybeans last year. Though early rains slowed planting this spring, the Santinis were able to get into the field on May 15. They used a John Deere 1795 planter to plant into the bean stubble at a rate of 140,000 seeds per acre on 15-inch rows. At planting, a 30% liquid nitrogen was applied at a rate of 30 gallons per acre. They also treated the seed with Pioneer's Nexta Biologicals using a planter box delivery system.

"We really pay close attention to our singulation when planting, and our final stand ended up at about 135,000," Sam said. "A long time ago, we learned that we needed to treat the sorghum like we treat our corn. People don't realize that. They think sorghum is a cheaper crop to plant."

A preemergent herbicide pass containing atrazine and S-metolachlor ensured that the crop wouldn't have any competition for resources, which was especially important for water in 2025. While the region typically receives around 50 inches of precipitation annually, this year ran nearly 10 inches behind.

"It seemed like almost every time, we'd catch a shower just when we needed it," Sam said. "We did have to furrow irrigate some -- not a lot, maybe 2 inches for the season."

A tried-and-true part of the Santini's sorghum production is a two-pass fungicide program. This year, Miravis, a Group 7 fungicide containing pydiflumetofen, was applied after the flag leaf appeared. Then, Adastrio, which contains three active ingredients -- flutriafol (Group 3), fluindapyr (Group 7) and azoxystrobin (Group 11) -- was sprayed when the crop reached the flowering stage.

"We just want to keep that plant happy and disease-free so that it can grow to its potential," Chris added.

While aphids can be an occasional issue, insect pressure this season never reached threshold levels that required the application of an insecticide.

After taking every step possible to produce high yields, the Santinis want to ensure that as much of that grain as possible gets into the bin. So, they tend to harvest toward the top end of moisture recommendations, around 20%.

"We have on-farm dryers, so getting it in a little wet isn't an issue," Sam said. "It helps with test weight, and we don't have to worry about heads shattering or the birds eating it."

Chris Santini will be recognized along with the other national winners at a contest gala held during the 2026 Commodity Classic in San Antonio, Texas, from Feb. 25-27. Though Sam admits he enjoys competing (and winning when it happens), the couple agreed that meeting other top growers just helps them get better at growing sorghum.

"I'm really looking forward to meeting up with everyone in San Antonio," Chris said. "It's a special group. There's always something to learn."

2025 National Sorghum Yield Contest Winners

DRYLAND-TILLAGE WESTERN CATEGORY

First Place: Stewart Family Farms LLC

Washington County, Kansas

Variety: Pioneer 84G62

Yield: 213.30 bpa

Second Place: Dylan Knoll

Charles Mix County, South Dakota

Variety: Pioneer 89Y79

Yield: 172.75 bpa

Third Place: Curt Soulek

Charles Mix County, South Dakota

Variety: Pioneer 89P52

Yield: 165.06 bpa

IRRIGATED WESTERN CATEGORY

First Place: RK Farms

Cimarron County, Oklahoma

Variety: Pioneer 85P75

Yield: 237.15 bpa

Second Place: Luke Van Ruiten

Sutter County, California

Variety: Pioneer 85P75

Yield: 197.14 bpa

Third Place: Gordon Lassen

Phelps County, Nebraska

Variety: Pioneer 84P94

Yield: 193.14 bpa

DRYLAND NO-TILL WESTERN CATEGORY

First Place: Gamble Farms GP

Kiowa County, Kansas

Variety: Pioneer 85Y88

Yield: 199.14 bpa

Second Place: VFF-Dry Lake Farms

Scott County, Kansas

Variety: Pioneer 86P70

Yield: 185.02 bpa

Third Place: VFF-Tip Off Farms

Scott County, Kansas

Variety: Pioneer 86G32

Yield: 183.66 bpa

DRYLAND NO-TILL EASTERN CATEGORY

First Place: Jon Stutzman

Berks County, Pennsylvania

Variety: Pioneer 85P58

Yield: 211.15 bpa

Second Place: Sharon Santini

Warren County, New Jersey

Variety: Pioneer 85P58

Yield: 195.20 bpa

Third Place: HRB Farming Partnership

Livingston County, Missouri

Variety: Dekalb DKS54-07

Yield: 171.35 bpa

DRYLAND-TILLAGE EASTERN CATEGORY

First Place: Jeff Barlieb

Warren County, New Jersey

Variety: Pioneer 85P58

Yield: 226.73 bpa

Second Place: Robert Santini

Warren County, New Jersey

Variety: Pioneer 85P58

Yield: 209.15 bpa

Third Place: Billy H Bowers Farm Trust

Davidson County, North Carolina

Variety: Pioneer 84G62

Yield: 200.72 bpa

IRRIGATED EASTERN CATEGORY

First Place: Chris Santini

Warren County, New Jersey

Variety: Pioneer 85P58

Yield: 239.93 bpa

Second Place: Michelle Santini

Warren County, New Jersey

Variety: Pioneer 85P58

Yield: 180.78 bpa

Third Place: Adam Fisher

Cross County, Arkansas

Variety: Alta Seeds Adv G2168IG

Yield: 149.52 bpa

A complete list of national, state and county yield contest winners can be found here: https://sorghumgrowers.com/….

Jason Jenkins can be reached at jason.jenkins@dtn.com

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