Frost and Cold Temperature Damage to Small Soybeans

The farmer is the only man in our economy who buys everything at retail, sells everything at wholesale, and pays the freight both ways.” – John F. Kennedy

  • Farmers aim to achieve the highest potential yield at the best cost to achieve maximum profitability.
  • To help maximize profits, some farmers may consider cutting back on or completely cutting out some inputs altogether. These decisions should be calculated and thought through completely.
  • Setting realistic yield goals based on calculated decisions and planning ahead, results in maximum profit potential.

Figure 1. Side dressing nitrogen

As a farmer, the goal is to optimize profitability through the maximization of yield potential and cost control; however, this is often easier said, then done. This is particularly true when inputs costs are rising and the crop price is declining or expected to be lower at harvest.

Setting Yield Goals1,2

Realistic yield goals can help the producer achieve the greatest difference between the value of the crop and the cost of producing the crop. Recognize that exceptionally good years are the exception and not the rule. Disregard yields from years where weather related disasters resulted in very poor yields. Keep records for each field as an individual unit. Set your goals 5 to 10 percent above your average yield of the past five years. Utilize field mapping technology to aid in goal setting.

There are a few different approaches to use when determining your yield goals:

  • Using previous year’s production. This is a good tactic when a field has been used for several years, particularly when field maps are available for previous years.
  • Maximum yield approach. This approach is based only on inputs and management skills. Little, if any, consideration is given to soil potential and variations. This approach can be risky as it doesn’t consider the costs of inputs needed to reach that goal or past yields achieved.
  • Soil productivity approach. This approach focuses on soil productivity potential, available water, subsoil moisture, and management skills.

Consider Your Inputs3

Inputs include labor, crop protection products like herbicide and fungicides, equipment, seed, and energy. Most farm inputs are purchased, making production costs susceptible to non-farm economic conditions.

When input prices are low, farmers should attempt to maximize production to reduce the per unit cost of production, with the goal of covering variable costs and as much of the fixed costs as possible. Production inputs are usually known allowing farmers to plan ahead. Knowing in advance can allow farmers to purchase in advance at reduced prices in areas like the cost of land, fertilizer, and seed.

Several Land-Grant Universities have developed spreadsheets that can assist in developing crop budgets for several crops. For example Iowa State University has this site for 2021 budgets https://www.extension.iastate. edu/agdm/crops/html/a1-20.html, North Carolina State University has this site for 2021 budgets, https://cals. ncsu.edu/are-extension/business-planning-and-operations/enterprise-budgets/, and South Dakota State University has this site for 2021 budgets,https://extension.sdstate.edu/crop-budgets

To help maximize profit potential, some farmers may consider cutting back on or completely cutting out some inputs altogether. These decisions should be calculated, thought through completely, and be based on past experiences, not emotional. For example, use extreme caution when cutting back on inputs like fertilizers. Farmers need to ensure that the farm fertility is properly maintained to provide good yields and root structures that support healthy stands and reduce erosion. Cutting back too much on fertilizer inputs not only lessens
the chance of having a good yield year in the coming season, but also in future years. Weed management is becoming a larger driver for input costs as weed resistance to herbicides becoming more common. Developing a weed management plan and sticking to it for the entire farm may result in higher input costs, but it may also be in the best interest for long-term profitability. Crop rotation may also help reduce input costs by reducing some fertilizer and farm chemical costs as well as seed costs. Taking the time to set realistic yield goals based on calculated decisions and planning ahead can result in the maximum return on investment and profitably.

Sources:

1 Miller, A.G. 2000. Establishing realistic yield goals. Agronomy Pm-1268. University of Iowa Extension. https://store.extension.iastate.edu/product/Establishing-Realistic-Yield-Goals
2 Shober, A. and Taylor, R. 2015. Estimating yield goal for crops. University of Delaware Extension. https://www.udel.edu/academics/colleges/canr/cooperative-extension/fact-sheets/estimating-yield-goal-crops/
3 2015. It’s not just about costs per acre, even in tight times. Purdue University Extension. https://ag.purdue.edu/commercialag/home/resource/2015/04/its-not-just-about-costs-per-acre-even-in-tight-times/

Legal Statements

ALWAYS READ AND FOLLOW PESTICIDE LABEL DIRECTIONS. Performance may vary, from location to location and from year to year, as local growing, soil and weather conditions may vary. Growers should evaluate data from multiple locations and years whenever possible and should consider the impacts of these conditions on the grower’s fields.

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2021: Ear Slippage a Concern – No Ifs, Ands or “Butts”

July is the pivotal month for corn growing, as growers and seed specialists like myself spend hours watching the highs and lows of each day, hoping to keep the highs below the 86 degree threshold while getting lows below 70 at night to give those corn plants a break. In cases of readily available moisture, these concerns are often not a major issue, but in much of the corn belt in 2021, drought stress has given much cause for concern for our fall harvest.

What are some of these concerns? First, in a lot of dry areas, the amount of corn rootworm beetle pressure is immense. I have been actively trapping beetles since the middle of July and some of the fields are showing an average of 43 beetles caught per plant per day! That is roughly 20 times the economic threshold. These numbers are downright scary thinking about the number eggs that these adults are laying and will be resulting in root-feeding larvae next year. Another threat potentially related to this drought stress and excessive rootworm pressure has me equally concerned for this year’s crop; poor kernel development at the butt of the ears.

Many of you who have been in the seed business for some time have encountered “ear slippage” in the fall. The bulk of the time, growers immediately want to blame the hybrid for their ears lying on the ground, but that is just not the case. One contributing factor to this is drought stress. The shank and ear are anatomically similar to the stalk above the ear attachment. Therefore, it is no surprise that if that portion the stalk is fragile from drought stress, so will be the shank. This year, another stress related cause of possible ear slippage is simply poor pollination of the butt of the ear. Note the arrowed areas of the picture below: overall the ears look filled out fairly well, but the kernel spacing around the butt is irregular. This causes those kernels to grow quite large and wildly out of place. Ultimately they push the ear away from the shank attachment. The result is ear slippage.

In addition to severe heat and extended drought at this stage of ear development, other factors can influence pollination. These include improper applications of some herbicides, insect feeding on early emerged silks that pollinate these first ovules, as well as poor fertility. Heat stress is usually the major culprit alone, or in conjunction with these other influences.

So what can be done if this is a potential problem? I would strongly encourage growers to spend some time this fall gauging whether or not this could be an issue as well as looking at general stalk quality and then prioritizing those fields for earlier harvest. There is really no solution other than harvesting while the ears are still intact. So check out your fields and put together a harvest plan, or you might feel the pain of ear slippage.