Don't Cut Corners on Inputs

Unless you have been living under a rock, you have heard about the high price of inputs for this year. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like it will be changing in the near future. The only bright side of this whole deal is that markets are still high enough for us to be able to make a profit. With that being said, there are a few things to keep in mind to make sure we grow enough crop so we can still be profitable. 

With the higher chemical prices, it may be tempting to try and cut rates or revert to a one pass program. This is the last thing we should do. By cutting rates we would be giving the weeds a better chance to turn resistant to the chemicals we use. Weeds also cut down on yield by robbing nutrients and moisture from the soil. It will be very important to start clean and stay clean. It is always a lot easier to keep a field clean than it is to clean it up. 

We may also be tempted to cut fertilizer rates. This is also a bad idea in the long run. By cutting fertilizer rates we could end up mining our soils which will lead to having to add more fertilizer in the future. I recommend taking a soil test so we know how much fertilizer your crop will need in each field. 

The only way we can get through these high inputs is to grow as much crop as possible. We will not be able to grow as much crop as possible if we start cutting corners. Take the time to get with a SFG agronomist to come up with a plan to grow as many bushels as possible for your fields.