Planning for 2026

For the most part, the 2025 harvest is wrapped up. There are still a few corn fields standing, but they’re few and far between. From what we’ve seen and heard, soybeans performed better than expected, while corn came in just a few bushels short of average. But, overall, yields were solid.

One of the biggest takeaways this year was just how much fungicide applications on corn paid off. With the heavy disease pressure we faced, fields treated at tassel saw yield bumps of 40 to 70 bushels per acre compared to untreated fields.

We also saw a good return on investment from side-dressing additional nitrogen, especially with all the rain we had this season. One field close to home gained 20+ bushels after an extra 40 pounds of urea was applied over the top.

Fungicide applications on soybeans also rewarded growers with an average increase of 5 to 6 bushels per acre. In addition, foliar feeding on beans showed strong results again this year. One grower noticed his beans in a wet bottom were pale and yellowing; after adding a foliar feed with the second herbicide pass, he called back to say the beans “perked right up.”

We’ve been keeping close track of what worked and what didn’t this season so we can make better management decisions for next year. While this year’s harvest is nearly complete, it’s already time to start planning for the 2026 crop.

As you make those plans, be sure to reach out to your SFG agronomist to review what worked best in 2025 and how to build on that success next season.