By Jody Shee 

Alex Harrell (left) with Doug Collins, county agent for the University of Georgia, who was on hand to help verify Harrell’s world record soybean crop. 

When the scales tipped 206 bushels per acre of soybeans on Aug. 23, 2023, everything changed for Lee County, Georgia, farmer Alex Harrell. His official verified yield was 206.7997 bpa, which soundly beat the previous world record of 190.23 bpa set in 2019 by fellow Georgian and friend Randy Dowdy. 

For a month afterward, Alex’s phone did not stop ringing. He continually answered questions from journalists representing television, radio, podcasts and magazines, sometimes four or five interviews per day. Seed company Asgrow even flew him to the Farm Progress Show where he did a media day. “It’s been fun,” he says.  

Alex, 33, and his dad farm 3,000 acres of mainly corn, wheat and soybeans. He farmed his first soybean crop of 50 acres at age 18.  

He wasn’t really trying for a world record. “I never checked the yield before now,” he says. But when he sensed that he would be close to a record, he sought yield verification with the University of Georgia.  

His tenacious approach to farming is likely what drove his notable results. “My No. 1 goal is to raise the overall farm yield average to be more profitable,” he says. He aims to average 120 bpa on soybeans and 300 on corn across the board.  

He credits his success to two key factors. First is the combination of input products and timing, beginning with the right seed variety for the soil type and the geographic location. Regarding all the inputs, “The difference between good and great results is two or three days. It’s all in the timing,” he says. 

The other key is the dedicated team that shares his vision, from his seven full-time employees to the University of Georgia grain specialist who answers all his questions to the product suppliers who eagerly work with him to understand and support his focus and goals. 

Focus is everything. “I pull tissue samples every Monday religiously,” he says. He sends them to the lab for a quick nutritional analysis, then he and a crop consultant look at the results to determine the inputs to apply pronto. Of course, weather and water play their parts. Alex also owns an irrigation company.  

“If I was giving advice to a farmer trying to push yields, I would say to take part of the farm and make it a research plot. Don’t go with university trials,” he says. “Select a percentage of crop to test yourself.”  

Giving advice to other farmers is another of his goals. After spending years going to classes and seminars taking notes and admiring his hero speakers, “now I’m thrown in the same category as those I grew up listening to.” His advice on that, “Don’t imitate just any farmer. Find one you like and listen to him and copy what he does.”  

A month before his world record, Alex posted on Twitter, “David Hula is the undisputed king of corn on this planet. Having him come on our farm today and walk my corn and soybean fields with me and pass on his advice was definitely one of the coolest things I’ve had happen on the farm.”  

Now Alex has a new “coolest thing.”