A Lancaster County farmer has been recognized in the 2025 Pennsylvania Soybean Yield Contest, an annual competition sponsored by the Pennsylvania Soybean Board that highlights innovation and continuous improvement across the state's soybean industry. The contest recognizes the top growers in each of five production regions in Pennsylvania, and A. Dale Herr of Lancaster County won in the southcentral region with a yield of 100.49 bushels per acre.

Timely mid- and late-summer rains, soil water-holding capacity, and late April planting dates were key factors influencing results in the 2025 contest. Thirty-two farms competed this year, and only two farms surpassed the 100-bushel-per-acre level, one of which was Herr's farm.

Herr and the other regional winners will receive an educational trip for one to the Commodity Classic, an annual joint convention of the American Soybean Association, National Corn Growers Association, National Association of Wheat Growers, and the National Grain Sorghum Producers, which will be held in San Antonio, Texas.

The contest was introduced by the Pennsylvania Soybean Board to showcase crop management practices of some of the top soybean producers in the state and to encourage the exchange of ideas that drive continuous improvement and on-farm innovation. A summary of the crop production practices from recent contest entrants is available from Penn State Extension educators and at http://www.pasoybean.org.