Francis Childs (August 30, 1939 - January 9, 2008) was a hog farmer and champion

corn Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...

farmer from Manchester, Iowa. He is known for being the first farmer to have corn yields of over 400 bushels per acre in controlled contest plots, achieving that level in 2001 and 2002.

Family

Francis R. Childs was born in Delaware County, Iowa on August 30, 1939. He was the son of Ross and Laura Childs. His father was a farmer, and Francis took over the family farm in Manchester, Iowa in 1966. The farm had been in the family since 1856.

Champion corn grower

His father had entered crop-growing contests and Francis continued the tradition, winning his first Iowa Masters Corn Growers Contest in 1967. He also operated a Polaris snowmobile shop. Francis did not win again until 1990. He again won in 1992, and then a streak of victories from 1994 until 2007, winning Iowa, Nebraska, and national contests over that period. In total, he won the Iowa contest eighteen times, the Nebraska contest - where he had a farm in Falls City - twice, and the

National Corn Growers Association The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) is an association that represents and advocates for the interests of corn growers in the United States. It is distinct from the American Corn Growers Association, a competing organization set up in 198 ...

prize eight times. In 1999, his non-irrigated contest plot reached 394 bushels an acre, an achievement which was compared to breaking the sound barrier by an Agricultural Department official present. In 2001, he became the first corn farmer to grow more than 400 bushels in an acre in a controlled contest with 405. He achieved 442 the next year, a record that hadn't been broken as of 2016. He was disqualified from the national corn growers contest in 2003 in part due to cheating accusations from his recently divorced ex-wife, but won three more national championships and five state championships in the next five years. While never breaking his 2002 mark in a contest plot, he claimed to have grown as many as 557 bushels an acre in sections of fields that were smaller than the 10-acre strips required for contest plots. The average yield in 2007 was 153 bushels an acre.

Methods

Childs' corn was grown for his pig operation and for market. He planted as many as 40,000 seeds an acre on contest plots, compared to 36,000 an acre on his conventional fields. His methods included extensive scouting and care of roots and plants during growing season, running the planter and

combine Combine may refer to: Machinery * Combine harvester, or combine, a machine to harvest grain crops * Combine seeder, or combine, a machine to plant seeds Company structure * Corporate group, an industrial business group in Western democracie ...

slower to deal with the more dense planting of contest plots, to use a special attachment on the planter to encourage faster germination, and not rotating crops. In 1999, he spent about $650 per acre on contest plots, about twice what he spent on conventional plots. He also plowed deeper than most farmers (many of whom no longer plow at all), planted

genetically modified seeds Genetically modified plants have been engineered for scientific research, to create new colours in plants, deliver vaccines, and to create enhanced crops. Plant genomes can be engineered by physical methods or by use of ''Agrobacterium'' for the ...

very densely, used large amounts of chemical fertilizers and

pesticides Pesticides are substances that are meant to control pests. This includes herbicide, insecticide, nematicide, molluscicide, piscicide, avicide, rodenticide, bactericide, insect repellent, animal repellent, microbicide, fungicide, and lampric ...

and tested the tissue of plants at different stages of growth. Environmentalists criticized Mr. Childs for his heavy use of chemicals, and deep plowing, which can lead to erosion. Childs published an article length description of his methods in the journal, ''Better Crops'' in 2000.Murrell, T. S., and F. R. Childs. "Redefining corn yield potential." Better Crops 84, no. 1 (2000): 33-37.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Childs, Francis 2008 deaths 1939 births People from Manchester, Iowa People from Falls City, Nebraska Farmers from Iowa