As a researcher and administrator, Sheri Strydhorst knows how to produce results, and in October was hired as research program manager for crops WITH Results Driven Agriculture Research (RDAR). RDAR is a farmer-led, not-for-profit corporation with a 10-year budget of $370 million. In support of projects across the value chain from farm to store shelf, its central priority is to boost farm productivity, profitability and competitiveness.

In February 2020, Eric Watson of Ashburton, New Zealand, produced a new world record wheat yield. At an incredible 258.8 bu/ac, his 21-acre irrigated crop was grown in the country’s South Canterbury region where the average wheat yield is a respectable 178 bu/ac. It was his second such record yield confirmed by the Guinness World Records organization.