Reducing soybean costs in 2015

Six tips from Seth Naeve and Chad Lee

By Diego Flammini, Farms.com

Farmers, as anyone who operates a business, try to follow a simple formula – get more out of it than what you put in.

There’s no sense in spending $1.00 to make 10¢ when you can spend that same dollar and make 50¢.

When it comes to soybean operations, Extension agronomist from the University of Minnesota Seth Naeve and University of Kentucky’s Extension agronomist Chad Lee have done research and come up with six ways to cut input costs.

1. Read soil tests thoroughly – Chad Lee told agriculture.com if your soil tests tell you extra fertilizer isn’t necessary, don’t add it.
2. Consider seed treatments – Lee says in northern states, seed treatments for soybeans are a cost effective item whereas in the southern Corn Belt, there was less chance for a good return.
3. Consider the fertilizer source – Lee suggests not using a foliar fertilizer unless it’s certain that there’s a micronutrient deficiency.
4. Limit foliar fungicide and insecticide use – Naeve suggests dealing with a pest as soon as it’s noticed and using an aggressive scouting program. Use products that protect yields instead of trying to increase them.
5. Refrain from adding extra nitrogen – Lee said most of the data they collected showed a difficulty to get back their nitrogen fertilizer investment.
6. Consider seeing rate – Lee said some soybeans behave the opposite of corn and in fields with a higher yield capability, planted less soybeans per acre and still had successful yields.

Join the discussion and tell us if you’ll use some of these tips to minimize your soybean input costs. What other measures do you take to make sure you get the most return on your investments?