In current markets, crop growers are doing anything they can to save money and retain profit, but battling high inputs can be challenging. Crop scientists say it all goes back to the basics, like making sure planters are set each time they enter the fields.
“That’s just the easiest way to capture as much yield, and there’s no additional cost asked for that one. Weed and disease management. You know, anything in high yield doesn’t help if you have something taking yield away, so we have to prioritize those inputs first because any input you do beyond the pest management won’t have any benefit if you have pests that are in the way. Seeding rates and variety selection, you know that bags of seeds pretty much cost the same no matter which maturity group you’re going out for, so maybe we should start changing our maturity group selection with a same cost but a different variety type approach. And then a new seed treatment. I think that’s probably the most economical input area where we can see yield gains with not as much of an upfront cost,” said Connor Sible.
Sible says soybeans have a lot of untapped potential. His research comes at a time when farmers are facing considerably less profit over just a couple of years ago.
