Register Now for 2026 Great Lakes Yield Enhancement Network!

Register Now for 2026 Great Lakes Yield Enhancement Network!

Lansing, Mich.(Jan. 25, 2026) - Wheat growers interested in becoming part of the ground-breaking Great Lakes Yield Enhancement Network (YEN) and learning more about how their crop management practices affect yield potential and profitability need to register now.

The sixth year of the Great Lakes YEN will begin in February. Visit: greatlakesyen.com/how-to-participate/now and sign up, so you don't lose out on the 2026 opportunity to learn more about your wheat crop and how to hit your yield potential while making the best economic decisions.

Established in 2021, the Great Lakes YEN (Yield Enhancement Network) was created in partnership with the Michigan Wheat Program, Grain Farmers of Ontario, Michigan State University, the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and the University of Guelph, to improve crop returns through greater understanding of crop performance and increased collaboration between industry and farmers.

"For growers joining the Great Lakes YEN, their involvement leads to a much better understanding about what's going on in their specific fields, putting yields and efficiency on the "fast track" to a better bottom line," said Jody Pollok-Newsom, executive director of the Michigan Wheat Program. "Producers interested in taking a different approach to their wheat crop, should consider signing up for the program."

"As staff support, we in Michigan and Ontario spend the winter helping participants set up access to the Great Lakes YEN database so they can enter their selected field," saidDennis Pennington, YEN collaborator and MSU Extension wheat systems specialist. "We also spend time traveling across the states over the winter and meeting with growers delving into the details of their reports, so they are ready to make those tough management decisions come spring."

Every farmer involved in the Great Lakes YEN takes soil, tissue and whole plant samples which are analyzed for comparison and benchmarking. The program sets up growers to learn more about how their wheat crop develops and what impacts yield through extensive testing and connections with other growers, agronomists, academics, extension specialists and ag organizations to analyze, measure and understand yield potential vs. actual yield of a given field.

When harvest is complete in Summer 2026, data is compiled and reported back to each participant via a field-specific written report as well as through regional education events. Individual farm data is kept confidential and comparisons are reported out as trends and ranges to give growers an idea where they stack up compared to other growers in their region and their past performance. All of the organization and work put into the program has been grower-driven since the beginning of YEN in Michigan and Ontario in 2020. The group has been developing a program that best fits growers and involvement has spread to other states and regions of the US.

If you would like more information on the Great Lakes YEN visit https://www.GreatLakesYEN.com or look for the hashtag #GreatLakesYEN. For registration information: https://greatlakesyen.com/how-to-participate/or go to miwheat.org under the "Action Needed - Sign Up Here" section on the home page. Participation cost is $325. Registration closes at the end of January, as the 2026 program will launch in February.

This data-heavy program is very expensive, and we would not be able to offer this opportunity to growers without sponsors. Our sponsors for the 2025 year were: Mennel Milling, Kentucky Small Grain Growers Association, King Milling, Eastman, Star of the West, Michigan Ag Commodities, Coop Elevator, Chelsea Milling/Jiffy, Wide Angle Agriculture, Medoc Valley Inc. and Knappen Milling.

If you are interested in joining our team as a sponsor, please reach out to the Michigan Wheat Program (Jody Pollok-Newsom [email protected]) or Grain Farmers of Ontario (Alexandra Dacey [email protected])