Insecticides

Soybean Gall Midge Emerges As Top-Tier Threat

Mon, 11 May 2026 20:19:03 GMT

Soybean gall midge is no longer just a curiosity or annoyance for many Midwest farmers. The pest is chewing into yield and profitability for soybean growers across parts of at least seven states – Kansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota.

Iowa State University Entomologist Erin Hodgson reports the pest’s footprint is significant, present in at least 42% of the 45.4 million acres of soybeans farmers harvested across the seven states in 2025.

“At least 19 million soybean acres are potentially impacted by this pest,” Hodgson says, noting that the pest continues to spread. Eight new counties were confirmed in 2025, with five of those being in Iowa .

According to a recent farmer survey led by University of Nebraska Entomologist Doug Golick, the pest has become a major threat in parts of Nebraska. “In the last year or two, soybean gall midge is approaching as near high of concern as herbicide-resistant weeds for survey respondents,” Golick says.

Since 2018, the soybean gall midge has spread to 185 total counties in seven states, including five new counties in Iowa this past year, according to Erin Hodgson, Iowa State University Extension entomologist and professor.

(Erin Hodgson)

Look For Small Orange Or White Larvae

Damage from the insect starts at the base of the soybean plants, largely out of sight. Adult midges emerge from the ground in May and June, then seek out tiny fissures in young soybean plants near the soil line to lay eggs, according to Thales Rodrigues da Silva, a master’s student at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln.

The larvae cause severe, localized yield losses from 20% to 100% loss along field edges and 17% to 50% reductions in entire fields average under heavy infestation, according to University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) Extension. The larvae – small, orange worm-like pests – feed inside the base of the stem, causing plants to wither, die, and lodge (break), with damages sometimes extending 100+ feet into fields. Scouting for the pest should occur after the second trifoliate (V2) growth stage, according to the Crop Protection Network.

This damage in a soybean plant at the soil level shows the result of soybean gall midge larvae feeding.

(University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension)

Because the pest often feeds along field edges, the damage in affected plants is often mistaken for issues caused by compaction or herbicide injury, according to Stine Seed Company .

To confirm the pest’s presence, Stine agronomists recommend digging up compromised soybean plants and splitting open the stem. If white or orange larvae are found feeding within the inner layers, growers should check the Soybean Gall Midge Alert Network tracking system to determine whether the pest has been reported in their area. Next, they should contact their local Extension specialist to help confirm the diagnosis and report the finding if their county is not yet documented in their area.

Cultural Practices Show Promise

Unfortunately, there are few strategies to manage and control soybean gall midge, according to Tony Lenz, Stine technical agronomist.
With no labeled, consistently effective in-season insecticide program and no established treatment threshold, researchers are testing cultural and mechanical tactics that might give farmers at least partial relief.

Tillage ahead of planting — a tough sell in no-till systems — shows some promise in reducing early infestations in current-year soybean fields.

“Turns out that disking alone, at least in (our) study… did reduce infestation,” says Justin McMechan an entomologist and associate professor at UNL.

“There’s a significant reduction as we move from no-till to that… where it’s just disked and planted into, and then disking and hilling (a practice used in growing potatoes), which really is effective, because you’re covering up the infestation site,” McMechan adds.

He notes that even subtle changes in seedbed shape may help by covering fissures or altering microclimates at the stem base.

On planters running row cleaners, McMechan says adjustments at field edges might be one of the more accessible tools.

“There are not huge differences, but they are statistically significant,” he adds.

Field edge management has been another area of experimentation, including mowing or managing dense vegetation next to infested fields. Results are mixed, but McMechan says there are situations where mowing modestly cuts pressure.

“Nebraska saw on occasion where mowing would reduce infestation and lead to marginal yield benefit… we’re talking like 6-bushel differences,” he says, adding that weather and nearby corn canopy can override those gains.

There are no insecticides currently available to control soybean gall midge. A combination of cultural practices and mechanical efforts is likely the best option, for now, to stop or slow the pest.

(Justin McMechan)

Scientists Evaluate ‘Out-Of-The-Box’ Practices

Other work by researchers is pushing even further outside the box to find control measures. At UNL, graduate research assistant Kristin Heinrichs Stark is testing whether a biodegradable surface barrier called BioWrap can physically trap larvae in the soil and prevent emergence.

The work is early-stage and raises reasonable questions about cost and field-scale application rates, but it points to the kind of layered, non-chemical tactics Extension researchers say will likely be needed to address the pest.

Even as these cultural and physical strategies are developed, Hodgson reminds farmers that the ag industry still lacks any clear control option once larvae are inside the soybean stem.

“We really don’t have a treatment threshold, or a rescue treatment option at this time,” she says. “We know that the soybean gall midge certainly can cause yield losses, plant death, and that directly relates to yield. But we don’t really have great answers on like, how many plants does it take? How many larvae per plant (causes yield loss)?”

For now, farmers dealing with soybean gall midge are being asked to combine careful field scouting, crop rotation, and targeted cultural tactics to address the pest as the research community races to find answers and close those gaps.

Specialists from three Midwest universities provided the latest updates on soybean gall midge (SGM) this spring in a webinar, available at the link below:

Farmers Emphasize Demand, Not Payments, Is The ‘Bridge To Better Times' For Agriculture

Wed, 22 Apr 2026 22:25:36 GMT

Two Midwest farmers are pinning their hopes for the future on stronger demand for corn and soybeans — especially the latter — as they navigate tight margins, high input costs, and an uncertain price outlook.

Northern Illinois farmer Steve Pitstick and south-central Iowa farmer Dennis Bogaards say they have exhausted most cost-cutting options for this season. They believe future profitability now rests on whether demand for both crops — particularly from domestic soybean crush and fuel markets — expands enough to support higher prices.

One silver lining currently, Pitstick says, is his relatively strong position on fertilizer heading into the 2026 planting season.

“We will do pretty much the dry spread program we always do,” he says. “We cut the rates a little bit on the phosphates just because of price. We booked our 32% in September, something we traditionally do. We have all the nitrogen bought, so I feel good about 2026 from that aspect.”

While he believes additional fertilizer is available, he notes it will likely be priced at a premium.

“I believe I can get more if I need it. I may not like the price, but I can get more,” he told AgriTalk Host Chip Flory during the weekly Farmer Forum segment.

Little To No Expansion On The Horizon

As the season begins, both farmers emphasize that the coming years will have farmers focusing on survival and strategic adjustments rather than acreage expansion.

One adjustment Bogaards is making is front-loading some of his nitrogen needs this season while leaving a portion open in case prices break.

“We booked anhydrous early on for this year, back in early fall, and got an OK price,” Bogaards says. “I have a little bit of sidedress that we do. We book about half of that, and I sit open on the rest of it. I’ll wait and see where it goes.”

Bogaards remains committed to sidedressing as long as product is available and prices do not continue ratcheting up. “If I can get it, I’ll put it on, unless it is a crazy, crazy price,” he says.

Like many U.S. growers, both Bogaards and Pitstick say there is virtually no room left to cut fertilizer use without risking yields.

“There is no place to cut back. We are being as efficient as we can be,” Pitstick says.

Bogaards agrees, noting that nitrogen is not the place to skimp. “Maybe a year or so, you can cut back on the P and K a little bit, but you do not want to get caught in three or four years of that.”

He also remains reluctant to drop fungicides. “Fungicides really pay off,” he says. “In the past, we did not use them, but the last few years they really paid, and I would hate to not spray them.”

Uncertainty About The 2027 Crop Mix

While the 2026 crop is largely “business as usual,” both farmers told Flory that 2027 brings real uncertainty—especially regarding nitrogen supplies. Pitstick is concerned about how global demand could impact costs for U.S. producers.

“I am worried about the price of the nitrogen,” he says. “It may not be an issue in the United States from a supply standpoint, but the rest of the world… could export our product because of opportunity cost, and that drives the price up. It is a total wait and see.”

Flory underscored how global trade flows directly shape what American farmers pay, noting that some fertilizer shipments originally destined for the U.S. were recently rerouted.

“Some boats are diverted from the U.S. to other countries,” Flory says. “If you want your share, you have to beat the next guy in line with the price.”

If nitrogen prices soar while corn prices stagnate, Pitstick says his rotation could shift. “That might change how we do things in 2027. We may have to go to more soybeans,” he says.

Bogaards also expects to alter his corn–soybean mix, given the potential demand from domestic crush and renewable fuels.

“In the past, we were probably 60% to 65% corn,” he says. “We have been backing off of that. I still do a little bit of corn-on-corn, but I might try to go to a 50–50 rotation.”

Flory believes this shift could help rebalance supplies and improve price prospects. “If we can pull some acres away from corn and get this thing rebalanced, maybe that is our bridge to a better time,” Flory says. “Our bridge to a better time is more demand across the board and crops competing for acres — not another payment.”

Bogaards says the shifting economics are already evident. “A couple of years ago, people said soybeans are a drag on our financial statements. It looks like almost the opposite right now.”

Even so, Bogaards is cautious about making long-term decisions based on short-term signals. “I can change acres right now, but by next fall, it might be the worst decision. I think you have to go with your rotation and stick with it.”

Pitstick links his long-term outlook to fuel sector growth, noting that both corn and soybeans increasingly function as energy crops.

“Some of the most profitable years of my career were when we had high fuel prices because we were also a fuel crop,” he says. “I have some optimism that these high fuel prices will cause some demand and increase our crop prices.”

For now, both farmers say their immediate job is to manage through 2026 while keeping their options open. With high costs for fertilizer, fuel, and machinery, they see expanded demand as the only realistic path forward.

“It is just survival at this point,” Bogaards says. “We just have to make sure we can survive and keep plugging through it.”

You can listen to the complete discussion between Bogaards, Pitstick and Flory on AgriTalk at the link below:

Early Soybeans Benefit From Protection In Cold Soils

Tue, 24 Mar 2026 20:11:26 GMT

When the calendar says it’s still a little early for soybeans but field conditions are just right, growers face this increasingly common dilemma: plant and risk the outcome in cold, tough soils—or wait and risk missing the best window.

More farmers are deciding to go early. As they do, seed treatments and inoculants are playing a bigger role in helping growers manage the risks, reports Missy Bauer, Farm Journal Field Agronomist, based in south-central Michigan.

The Case For Inoculant Use

While soybeans naturally fix nitrogen through root nodules, the process depends on the presence of Bradyrhizobium bacteria. Inoculants introduce these essential microbes to maximize nitrogen fixation and crop performance.

Inoculants are most often useful, the Crop Protection Network (CPN) reports, when fields have no history of soybean production, or when the field has gone four or more years without being planted to soybeans.

Farm Journal Field Agronomist Missy Bauer says her field research in south-central Michigan indicates inoculant use can also be a net positive in “ultra early” soybean planting. She has spent the past three years evaluating Preside Ultra, a “super-concentrated” soybean inoculant.

“The results are pretty positive,” says Bauer. “We’ve seen good early growth all three years that we looked at this product.”

Three years of field testing show a solid return-on-investment for the inoculant.

(B&M Crop Consulting, Coldwater, Michigan)

Her data shows the product has added about 2.4 bushels per acre on average, delivering roughly $25 per acre in return for about $1.10 per acre more cost than a “standard” inoculant.

“I’ve been pretty happy with what we’ve seen with the enhanced early growth,” Bauer says. “I think the product pairs well with when I plant early, what we can do to get these beans going better knowing that they’re in a tough, cold environment.”

Seed Treatments Continue To Play A Valuable Role

When it comes to protecting early-planted soybeans, Bauer says seed treatments like Ilevo and Saltro still earn a place in growers’ plans as important production tools.

“While we aren’t continuing to research the Ilevo, we have that good history of Ilevo seed treatment and still recommend growers use it or Saltro,” she says.

For Bauer, that “good history” matters. Even without continuous new trials every season, a solid base of multi-year data gives her confidence to keep recommending both products, particularly when growers want to push soybeans into colder soils ahead of the traditional planting window.

Her message to farmers is that early planting doesn’t have to mean planting unprotected. With a strong track record and comparable performance in her trials, she views Ilevo and Saltro as dependable options when the goal is to capture the yield upside of early soybeans while managing the risk that cold, challenging environments can bring.

While Farm Journal Field Agronomist Missy Bauer says she is not conducting further testing on Ilevo or Saltro, she has confidence in their performance in soybeans, especially in early-planted crops.

(B&M Crop Consulting, Coldwater, Michigan)

The CPN says the benefit of a seed treatment is most evident when reduced soybean seeding rates (140,000 seeds per acre or less) are used. In many regions, the minimum plant stand for highly productive soils is 100,000 plants per acre. Because farmers want to minimize input costs while maximizing yield, they may reduce their seeding rates and use seed treatments to help protect the stand, CPN reports.

Next Steps For Your System

For most soybean growers, adopting a different inoculant or seed treatment won’t require a major overhaul. In many cases, it’s a conversation with a seed dealer or custom treater, Bauer says.

Four next steps she recommends:

Talk to your seed dealer about the inoculant and seed treatment options they offer and the potential benefits.
Review local data from plots in your area, especially where beans were planted early.
Match products to your planting plans — early planting into cold soils typically justifies a more robust treatment package.
Consider a strip trial for evaluation purposes. Compare your standard package against an upgraded inoculant or seed treatment.

For farmers looking to protect their early-planted soybeans — and squeeze a few more bushels out of every acre — upgrading the inoculant and revisiting their seed treatment package may be one of the simpler, higher-return changes they can make, Bauer says.

Are You Planting Second-Year Soybeans And Skipping Corn?

Fri, 20 Mar 2026 20:26:30 GMT

As input prices and markets fluctuate, many U.S. farmers are considering a shift from corn to soybeans this season. For some, like northwest Missouri farmer Todd Gibson, continuous soybeans aren’t just a one-year pivot—they are a long-term strategy to capture ROI on challenging soils.

Gibson, based near Norborne — a farming community that proudly bills itself as the “Soybean Capital of the World” — keeps a traditional corn-soybean rotation on his Missouri River bottom ground. But most of his fields with tougher, gumbo-type soils haven’t seen a corn planter in two decades.

“Growing corn on some of this heavy ground just doesn’t pay,” Gibson explains. “I’ve got some fields that have been in continuous soybeans for 20-plus years now.”

More Second-Year Soybeans In U.S. Farmers’ Plans

Gibson says he will grow more soybeans this season and on his better ground. “I’m going to cut my corn acres maybe in half. I’ll have more beans on the better dirt this year, mainly because of input prices,” he says.

Other U.S. farmers – many without Gibson’s experience – are looking to grow second-year soybeans. The Allendale Report released March 18 says private acreage estimates point to a shift toward more soybeans this season, notes Rich Nelson, chief analyst. He estimates U.S. corn planted area at 93.678 million acres, down about 5.1 million acres from 2025, while soybean acres are pegged at 85.659 million acres, up roughly 4.4 million acres over last year.

In southern Illinois, farmer and broker Sherman Newlin says the conversations he has with farmers these days are dominated by input costs and fertilizer availability concerns. While some tell him they’re sticking to their corn-bean rotations, others are considering a 100% shift to soybeans. Newlin is keeping his options open.

“I’m not planning on switching, but we’ll see,” he says. “We’ve still got a few weeks to go where we can swap out seed if we need to.”

Iowa Soybean Association Agronomist Lucas DeBruin says the farmers he works with in the state are sticking with their regular rotation and planting corn if that’s what the original plan was for this season.

“We use a lot of fall anhydrous here, so most guys are pretty locked into growing corn,” DeBruin says. “A lot of them also need the corn for livestock feed. Sometimes you can still squeeze a little bit more margin out of corn than the soybeans,” he adds, “and guys like growing corn more than soybeans. It’s more fun to pick corn.”

Look Before You Leap: The Ferrie Checklist

For farmers looking to change their seed order, Farm Journal Field Agronomist Ken Ferrie suggests taking a hard look at your balance sheet and your fields first. Here are some of his key recommendations:

Consider What You’ve Invested To Date: If you’ve already applied fall anhydrous or dry fertilizer for a corn crop, the “switch to beans” math doesn’t work. “You can’t afford to go to beans, because you’ve already spent the money,” Ferrie contends.

Account for the Yield Penalty: In a beans-after-beans scenario, Ferrie tells growers to expect a 5-to-7-bushel yield drag due to more stress from potential disease, insect and weed pressure. His question: “If you take 7 bushels off your bean yield, does it still cash flow against your corn APH?”

The Management “Claw Back": You can potentially mitigate some of the yield penalty in second-year soybeans by moving your planting date up from May to April, Ferrie says. Early planting helps the crop get an earlier and longer flowering period which can help recover some of the lost potential.

One morning this past week, Ferrie noted that the market was leaning back toward corn and that the see-saw between crops could continue this spring — another factor to keep in mind.

“Looking at the markets this morning, I think a lot of guys would prefer growing corn at $4.90 than beans at $11.10,” he contends.

The Continuous Soybean Playbook

For Gibson, success with continuous soybeans works based on a disciplined management system he relies on every year:

Fertility is Foundational. Even if you shift from corn to soybeans, Gibson says be aware that the beans could require more nutrients. He monitors his soil fertility closely, noting that continuous beans often require extra sulfur, phosphorus and potassium. He also keeps a close eye on micronutrients to ensure the crop won’t hit a hidden yield ceiling.

Non-Negotiable Seed Treatments: In continuous soybeans, the soil is more likely to become a reservoir for pathogens. Gibson hasn’t put a bare seed in the ground in 20 years. “Seed treatment guarantees me 100% replant,” he says. “It lets you sleep better at night knowing that if you get a heavy rain, you have that insurance to fall back on.”

Row Spacing and Canopy: Gibson plants in 15-inch rows at a rate of roughly 130,000 seeds per acre. The goals are quick emergence and a quick canopy. He believes a fast-closing row is your best defense against weeds and helps preserve soil moisture in the heavy gumbo. Seed treatment use and regular scouting help him feel confident in using narrow rows.

Keep Your Boots In The Field: In a corn-bean rotation, the “break” in the cycle helps farmers manage various diseases, insects and weeds. In continuous soybeans, you lose that advantage.

Gibson compensates by routine scouting and being prepared to address problems. “If you hear your neighbors have bug pressure, assume you will, too,” he says. “Don’t have the attitude that you can ‘get by,’ because you probably won’t.”

He has similar thoughts regarding weed pressure – “be proactive.” His program typically starts with a pre-emergence/burndown or early post application, with residual herbicides used to hold back weeds. If weeds break through, he is prepared to return with a post pass.

“We kind of wish sometimes we didn’t have to worry about weeds so much,” he says. “But if you don’t, then next thing you know, you think, ‘Oh, I wish we would have sprayed.’”

The Genetic Advantage: The final piece of the puzzle for Gibson is the advancement in soybean technology. He recalls the days when he says Williams 82 was his only real option for continuous soybeans. Today, advanced traits have made managing weeds and disease in continuous systems much more manageable, he notes.

On his continuous soybean acres, Gibson consistently sees yields average in the 50-to-60-bushel range. When he factors in the lower input costs compared to growing corn on heavy gumbo ground, he believes the decision to go with continuous soybeans is a good one. For Gibson, it’s not about following a trend— it’s about knowing what his land does best and having the management practices in place to succeed.

FBN Report: Tariffs Drive "Fragile Stabilization" in 2026 Crop Protection Market

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 19:52:49 GMT

The crop protection market—from a pricing standpoint—has shifted from a time of extreme volatility of recent years to what’s characterized by fragile stabilization. That’s one takeaway from FBN 2026 USA Ag Chem Price Transparency Report, which also notes how tariffs have driven the floor of prices higher.

The Impact of Tariffs on 2026 Inputs

Farmers should prepare for a 4% to 6% increase in overall chemical budgets. While the wild price swings of the post-pandemic era have settled, secondary costs like labor, fuel, transportation and tariffs are pushing retail prices upward.

“As the tariffs were implemented throughout 2025, the effects were felt in different ways in different times,” says John Appel, VP of Category Management at FBN. “A big reason for that was that product inventory had to be driven down in the channel before it was felt very broadly. And I think we did see that going into 2026 now, prices are definitely up versus the same time period in 2025, and that’s largely because tariffs have become structurally part of the cost for the farmer at this point.”

Trade duties and anti-dumping penalties—particularly on imports from China and India—are the primary drivers of price spikes for 2026. Key active ingredients (AIs) most affected include 2,4-D, S-Metolachlor, Clethodim, Dicamba, and Glufosinate.

Details on The Data Sources

FBN sources its data for this report on ag chemical invoices submitted by farmers, and this year’s report included 1,372 prices from 122 insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, and adjuvants purchased June 1, 2025, and January 18, 2026 across 31 states. Participants are often incentivized with Amazon gift cards. Fifteen crop protection products had price variances of at least 25% from the lowest price to the highest price.

“Really the value is in the data. It depends on the year and the amount of participation we get, but we try to get a big enough pool where we can make a robust analysis,” Appel says. “The spread being a little bit tighter in 2026 was due to the tariff volatility. In 2025, you had at some points in the year pre-tariff prices that were being invoiced, at some points in the year post-tariff prices that were being invoiced, and so you see a very large spread in that case. And we don’t have that to the same extent this year as that.”

This is about 1,000 invoices lower than the 2024 data that was based on 2,400 invoices from 33 states. The company has done its price report for almost 10 years.

“FBN was founded based on a Moneyball approach. Crop protection prices information was really asymmetric, and so price transparency was launched in 2017 as a way to even the playing field, so to speak. We capture that data, and we anonymize it, and aggregate it, and analyze it at a top-line level. And so that allows us to share back with our farmer members what’s happening on a product-by-product basis in the market and really arm them with the knowledge they need to make informed decisions,” Appel says.

Price Variability

The report advises moving away from “just-in-time” purchasing. Instead, it suggests buying in the fall to hedge against mid-season tariff changes and logistical bottlenecks in global shipping, which are projected to be a bigger risk in 2026 than manufacturing capacity.

“As the procurement window gets tight with overseas suppliers, with global markets, this is the time that that’s really felt, and we know that prices move about 10 points on average from pre-season to in-season, so that’s quite a bit. Now, will it be 10 points on every product all the time? Probably not, but in general, buying in the fall, buying early, even now, pre-season, where you can, makes a lot of sense,” Appel says.

On a national scale:

Clethodim 2E showed the highest variability with a 144% difference between the lowest and highest prices ($28.85 vs. $70.49).
Generic glufosinate followed with a 130% spread.

The FBN report shows persistent price variability, and farmers in neighboring states can pay a 50% price difference on the same products.

Generics vs. Branded: Where to Save

From the report, there is a push toward generic alternatives. For example, the report claims farmers could save 30% by switching to generic 2,4-D options or 11% on glyphosate compared to branded Roundup PowerMAX 3.

This data may not fully capture the complex “net-net” pricing traditional retailers offer through bundled seed-and-chemical rebate programs, which can significantly lower the effective cost for farmers who stay within a single manufacturer’s ecosystem.

Related Article: FBN Spins Out Its Crop Protection Business, Focuses on Marketplace and Technology

Syngenta To Exit Global Paraquat Production

Thu, 05 Mar 2026 16:43:17 GMT

Syngenta has announced it will cease global production of the herbicide paraquat by the end of June. The decision marks a significant shift for the company, which first brought the active ingredient to market more than 60 years ago.

According to a company news release, the move is driven by an increasingly competitive global landscape. The rise of generic products has eroded Syngenta’s competitiveness in manufacturing the herbicide. Today, paraquat is registered for sale by more than 750 companies worldwide and accounts for less than 1% of Syngenta’s total global sales.

UK Facility Will Advance Plinazolin Technology

Following an asset review, Syngenta is phasing out production at its Huddersfield, UK, site—its only manufacturing facility for paraquat globally.

Despite the closure of the paraquat unit, Syngenta remains committed to the UK location, recently completing a £50 million (approximately $63 million) investment to manufacture its advanced Plinazolin technology at the site.

Plinazolin is a new insecticide active ingredient intended to support resistance management across a wide range of crops. The company reports the technology is now cleared for use at the federal level and will enter the U.S. market pending individual state authorizations.

“This decision is about focusing our resources where they deliver the greatest value for our business and our customers,” said Mike Hollands, head of Syngenta global production and supply.

Syngenta Focuses On New U.S. Priorities

Paraquat has long been a staple in the U.S. farming toolbox, particularly for growers utilizing conservation practices like no-till farming. Syngenta maintains that the herbicide is safe when used according to registered label instructions and intends to work with partners and customers to ensure a smooth transition through the production phase-out.

The company stated its exit plan for paraquat aligns with its broader strategy to prioritize innovation in seeds, biologicals, and AI-enabled digital and precision agriculture solutions.

Regarding plinazolin, it will enter the 2026 growing season for U.S. farmers as a seed treatment, soil-applied formulation or foliar spray. Syngenta said it plans to market five products built on the technology:

Opello for corn rootworm control
Equento as a seed treatment for wireworm and other below-ground pests in cereals and pulse crops
Vertento for cotton, peanuts and onions
Incipio for a range of vegetable crops
Zivalgo for potatoes and tree fruit

All five products belong to IRAC Group 30, a classification associated with novel chemistries for insect management. Syngenta stated that the formulations are designed to match the specific requirements of different crops and pests, and to integrate with existing application practices.

How A New Tool Will Redefine the Battle Against Soybean Cyst Nematode

Wed, 25 Feb 2026 13:10:41 GMT

Beneath healthy-looking soybean fields across the U.S., a microscopic thief quietly steals bushels—and billions of dollars—without farmers ever knowing it’s there. Soybean cyst nematode (SCN) has become the nation’s most destructive soybean pest, inflicting an estimated $1.5 billion in yield losses annually while typically leaving no obvious signs of distress above ground.

That was Michael and Dennis Gallagher’s experience with SCN on their west-central Iowa farm some years ago, after getting their first yield monitor in 1998. During harvest, Dennis saw soybean yields registering 55 to 60 bushels across the field on the monitor. Then, in one area of the same field, yield suddenly dropped into the mid‑30s — with no visible difference in the crop.

“Dad wasn’t surprised to see a few drops here and there, but not a 20-bushel one,” Michael recalls.

The unexplained drop pushed Dennis to pull soil samples. The test came back showing very high SCN egg counts — a " huge number,” Mike recalls, confirming soybean cyst nematode as the cause of the hidden loss.

“That was our aha moment,” Michael recalls. “I was only 7 years old at the time, but that made a big impression on me.”

A Fundamental Shift in SCN Management

Since that SCN discovery, the Gallaghers have incorporated the use of native traits — PI 88788 and Peking — in their soybean crops to counter the pest, along with rotating to corn.

Michael adds that they look forward to using a new solution for SCN on the way from BASF Agricultural Solutions, Nemasphere. It is the first-ever biotech trait designed specifically to address SCN and prevent soybean yield loss.

Nemasphere represents a fundamental industry shift in the battle against SCN, unlike traditional native resistance found in PI 88788 and Peking. Nemasphere is based on a transgenic trait—a Cry14 protein engineered directly into the soybean, says Hugo Borsari, BASF vice president of business management for seeds in North America.

The protein targets SCN the moment the pest feeds on developing roots, delivering up to a 60% reduction in SCN populations. The transgenic trait helps farmers capture significantly higher soybean yields compared to traditional varieties relying solely on native traits.

“We’re not just adding yield; we’re giving farmers access to the yield potential SCN has taken away,” says Borsari.

Yield Protection as a Game Changer

SCN often skims up to 30% of the soybean yield potential in infected fields. When considering what that loss represents in dollars, the impact is staggering, reports Greg Tylka, Iowa State University nematologist and professor.

“You want to make the most return on investment from your input costs, and then you got this microscopic, some people think imaginary, little critter that lives in the soil that’s kind of holding back your yield,” he says. “So the better you can manage SCN, the more you’re going to get out of your seed, your fertilizer, your herbicides, and so forth.”

Importantly, Nemasphere controls SCN before egg development. Female SCN remove roughly 30 times more nutrients from the plant than males due to the energy required for egg production. Blocking that production provides a direct hit on future SCN populations and an immediate protection of plant resources.

Because the new trait is expressed by the plant itself, the protection follows the roots as they grow, rather than staying confined to the seed zone.

“You’ll get season-long control all the way out to the growing tips of the root, which is extremely important, because we know SCN always wants to infest the growing parts of the root system,” says Mike McCarville, trait technology lead for BASF.

Do You Have SCN In Your Soybean Fields?

For farmers who don’t know whether they have SCN, Tylka recommends soil testing for them.

Another option to consider, he adds, is to think about whether your soybean yields are not increasing while your corn yields are.

“If you’re seeing your corn yields go steadily up while your soybeans are not, that’s often a key sign you have SCN,” Tylka notes.

More Than a Nematicide: A Comprehensive Package

While stopping SCN is the primary focus, Nemasphere is being developed as part of a broader yield protection package. The trait will be stacked with the Enlist E3 herbicide system and adds tolerance to mesotrione (HPPD chemistry), providing a residual pre-emergence herbicide option in soybeans.

McCarville sees the package as a way to tackle multiple yield-limiting factors simultaneously. “All of this is driving at growers being able to harvest more of the yield potential that our breeders deliver every year and get out of that stagnating yield position in soybeans,” he says.

USDA estimates the genetic gain in soybean varieties is roughly 1 bushel per acre per year, but SCN and other environmental stresses mean farmers often only see a fraction of that progress in their bins. “What’s actually harvested is somewhere between a quarter and a half of that potential that the breeders are delivering,” McCarville notes.

Along with helping farmers “recapture” existing soybean yield potential, the new trait helps shut down additional disease issues that can develop from the damage SCN causes. McCarville estimates that roughly a third of all soybean disease losses are tied to SCN in some way. Issues like seedling blights, Sudden Death Syndrome (SDS), and brown stem rot can all become more frequent or more severe when SCN is present.

“SCN doesn’t just cause harm by itself,” he says. “It’s like the instigator at a party, encouraging everybody else to misbehave and cause problems. Both the incidence and severity of these other diseases are increased by SCN.”

Looking Ahead To 2028

With Nemasphere slated for a 2028 commercial release, the industry is looking toward a future where SCN is finally held in check.

McCarville says farmers interested in giving the new technology a hard look will have the opportunity in extensive field plots this year and will be testing the product in 2027.

For more information on the technology and where to see it at work, reach out to your local BASF representative or retailer.

Put More Spray Where It Pays

Thu, 29 Jan 2026 16:58:40 GMT

When you pull the sprayer into fields each spring, you’re banking that the product coming out of the nozzles will land where you need it to work. That’s where drift reduction adjuvants (DRAs) can become one of the most profitable—and protective—ingredients in your tank.

Consider what happens when you spray a crop protection product. Each nozzle throws out a spectrum of droplet sizes, from big “marbles” that fall quickly to tiny “dust” droplets that hang in the air, explained Greg Dahl, director of adjuvant education for the Council of Producers & Distributors of Agrotechnology (CPDA), during a recent Agricultural Retailers Association webinar.

Those tiny droplets, called driftable fines, are the troublemakers. They lose energy fast, ride the wind and can move well beyond your field. That’s not the case for larger droplets.

“Big droplets have to land. They are going to land, and they’re going to land close to where you spray,” Dahl says. “Small droplets, they probably are not going to land. They will lose their speed, and then they’ll just float in the air and go wherever the air goes.”

By design, DRAs shift more of your spray volume into larger, heavier droplets that are still effective but far less likely to drift. Across a wide range of nozzles, Dahl says industry research shows that adding a DRA can reduce the spray volume made up of driftable fines.

“Going across the whole system of nozzles, we get about a 50% reduction in the amount of spray volume that is made up of driftable fines,” he reports.

In practical terms, that means less product left hanging in the air and able to drift toward your neighbor’s crops, garden or yard.

There are at least four benefits to adding a good quality DRA in the tank.

(WinField United)

Drift Control Is Only Part Of The Benefit From DRAs

Many farmers are concerned that bigger droplets going out of the nozzles will automatically result in poorer coverage, particularly in post-emergence applications. In some cases — especially with ultra-coarse sprays — that’s true, Dahl says. Coverage can suffer, and penetration into the crop canopy can be weak. The right DRA, though, has been shown to increase droplets’ speed as they leave the nozzle, which improves penetration into the crop canopy.

“If we look where we have added in a DRA, it has actually increased the amount of speed of those droplets, so they’re going to go farther before they run out of energy, and we’re going to get better penetration of the canopy, better deposition farther down,” Dahl says.

Side-by-side comparisons in corn and soybeans using fluorescent dye tell the story more completely (see below). Without a DRA, Dahl’s slides illustrate that coverage is good on the top leaves of the crop but falls off quickly as the product moves down into the plant. With a deposition-type DRA, coverage is more balanced from the top to below the ear leaf in corn and throughout the soybean canopy.

A good quality DRA helps provide good product coverage all the way through the crop canopy, as noted in the plant on the right.

(Greg Dahl)

The ROI Of Improved Product Applications

Better coverage does show up in yield results, Dahl reports. Across hundreds of corn fungicide trials, for instance, he says adding a DRA to the tank delivered an average yield increase of about 5.7 bushels per acre compared to fungicide use alone.

In wheat, similar work showed nearly a 4‑bu.-per-acre advantage.

There’s also an economic advantage in terms of product retention. When you reduce the number of driftable fines, more of the active ingredient you paid for actually lands and stays in your field instead of drifting away.

Dahl says not all DRAs and nozzle combinations are created equal. Some thicker, polymer-type products can narrow the spray angle or even increase driftable fines with the wrong nozzle used, especially Venturi designs. That’s why choosing proven products matters. He says oil-emulsion DRAs, in particular, have shown they can cut driftable fines without creating an overly thick spray or sacrificing pattern quality.

“There’s almost 500 labels that recommend using CPDA-certified adjuvants, and there’s over 200 products that are CPDA-certified adjuvants,” Dahl says, referencing the website CPDA.com . “We think that’s where you should go for information, and we thank you for that,” he adds.

Master Your Emotions To Drive More Profitable Crop Decisions

Mon, 12 Jan 2026 16:55:43 GMT

As plans for the coming season take shape, many corn and soybean growers continue looking for places to cut expenses. That’s understandable, but if those cuts are driven by emotion instead of hard numbers, they can create expensive mistakes.

“I truly believe that to improve on what we are going to do, we need to evaluate what we have already done,” says Ken Ferrie, Farm Journal Field Agronomist. “Then, a good evaluation of our existing plan can involve actual numbers and less emotion.”

Ferrie likes to start the evaluation process with information from calibrated yield monitors and a disciplined, field‑by‑field review from the previous season.

“[It’s important to] sit down with your farm crew to evaluate each field, seeing how last year’s plan worked out, looking for answers to both the success and the disappointments of the past year,” he says.

Consider What You Had Control Over

A central theme to consider in the process is learning to separate what factors were under your control from those that weren’t. “Be sure to separate Mother Nature’s effect on yield from your management decisions,” he stresses.

Soybean crop performance is a good example of how weather impacted performance and was out of farmers’ control in parts of Illinois. Ferrie explains that in recent years, many growers have used a spread of maturities to manage risk, from roughly 2.6 to 4.2 group beans. That strategy experienced a hiccup when weather turned against full‑season beans this past summer.

“In areas where we saw little to no rain in August and early September locally, these full-season beans lacked the moisture needed to give us big beans,” Ferrie says. “What we saw is that the 3.5 to 4.2 group had kind of lackluster yield compared to the 2.5 to the 3.3 beans.”

The danger, he says, is if farmers react to this single year as if it provides a rule to follow. “If we don’t rely on past yield history and don’t plug in this last season’s weather conditions, we can make an emotional decision that late maturity beans don’t work for me, that I need to cut them from my lineup,” he explains.

But the whole point of using a wide maturity range is risk management. “When you plant a wide range of maturities to mitigate risk, you shouldn’t plan on hitting it out of the ballpark with all of them, because that seldom happens,” Ferrie says. “We don’t know what lies ahead for [2026] weather. We might have a drought. We might not.”

Corn tells a similar story. Weather during pollination—like the “days that we had the heavy fog during pollination” — are showing up clearly on yield maps. Good scouting records are critical for interpreting those maps correctly.

“Good scouting records from the pest team can help sort out pollination issues caused by weather,” he says. “When you combine your past data with this year’s scouting records and weather data, we make better decisions, what worked, what didn’t and why.”

Is Soil Insecticide On Your Cutting Block?

With budget tightening well underway, another recurring question Ferrie has been fielding from farmers is whether to cut soil insecticide on the planter. The answer, at least in Illinois, is to consider how much damage your corn crop is incurring from rootworm.

Field scouting this past season underscored how uneven rootworm pressure can be, according to Ferrie. One consideration is watching root feeding and beetle traps and beetle activity, because many times you can see the problem advancing toward your fields. But he cautions against knee-jerk reactions. For instance, he says to avoid making a decision to eliminate soil insecticide on the planter just because your neighbor is cutting it.

On the other hand, field data can support some risk‑taking where rootworm pressure truly is low. “If we’ve dug and done root washes that show very little rootworm feeding, and we put in some insecticide plots, and I’m seeing little to no response, it’s a lot easier to take the insecticide off the planter,” Ferrie says. But he adds a firm warning: “There’s no rescue for rootworm damage. Once the corn goes down, we can’t make it stand up.”

Assign A Pest Boss For Your Farm

Ferrie frequently addresses the importance and value a pest boss can deliver for your crops. He says to make sure and involve them in your planning meetings for the upcoming season.

“We talk about the importance of a good pest team and a pest boss… they can save your operation a lot of money and/or hassle,” he notes. “The insights they can provide during your winter meetings can help you create a successful and more cost-effective input use and management plan for the upcoming season.”

Reviewing calibrated yield data, scouting records, and using an honest assessment of weather and pest pressure by field are the tools that separate smart cuts from costly ones, Ferrie adds.

Here more about Ferrie’s instructions on making smart cuts for 2026 in his latest Boots In The Field podcast:

Beyond Bushels: Align High-Yield Strategies With Your Crop Budget

Mon, 29 Dec 2025 20:30:45 GMT

A practical crop budget can serve as a valuable farming playbook, offering essential direction and guidance from planting through harvest, according to farmers and business partners David Hula and Randy Dowdy.

“Return on Investment (ROI) is the primary focus for the year ahead,” says Dowdy, who farms near Valdosta, Ga. “Everybody is trying to figure out how to survive this lean time, because we don’t have $8 corn or $15 beans.”

Start The Season Strong

For Hula, the strategy for achieving both high yields and ROI begins with selecting the right hybrids and using excellent planting practices, followed by consistent nutrition.

“You want to feel optimistic that you’re going to have high yield potential starting out,” he says. “Then, you need to make sure the crop has all the groceries it needs, because if it runs out of juice at any one time, you’ve just hit the minus button.”

Power Of Finishing The Crop

Hula highlights that another critical component of maximizing ROI, even in current tight markets, is finishing the crop well.

He shares that despite having a challenging growing season this year, his dryland acres achieved their third-best farmgate average. He attributes that to ensuring the crop received the necessary resources late in the season, especially a fungicide application.

“We felt pretty confident [the crop] was going to deliver... and that was mostly because we finished it well. We were picking 66.7 to 67 pounds test weight corn at harvest,” reports Hula, who is based near Charles City, Va.

“Finishing the crop is by far where a lot of people leave a lot of yield on the table,” adds Dowdy.

Use ‘Bushels’ To Track Costs

The current market outlook for 2026 necessitates a sharp focus on expense management, Dowdy notes.

“Obviously servicing debt is still on everybody’s mind. A farmer should never cut out anything that he or she knows makes money. But the problem is sometimes they don’t always know what that is,” he says.

When planning the budget, Hula urges growers to shift their perspective away from the cost of the input and toward the bushel return needed to justify it.

He offers, as an example: “For me to do in-furrow, that requires seven bushels. If I’m not going to get a seven-bushel return per acre, I’m not going to do it.”

Hula believes the bushel ROI mindset should be applied to all inputs. By framing decisions in terms of bushels rather than dollars, he says growers can more easily see the economic impact of each investment they make.

Make Every Input Pay Its Way

Hula and Dowdy are spending significant time this winter consulting with growers on budget strategies through their business, Total Acre . In many cases, they are stressing the importance of refining in-season input applications to make them more efficient, rather than cutting them completely.

“We can keep some of the in-season applications and make them more efficient by placement,” Dowdy says. “The goal is not merely to cut costs, but to find better, more efficient ways to invest money that directly leads to a higher ROI.”

Dowdy and Hula discuss their budgeting recommendations in more detail in their latest Breaking Barriers With R&D podcast discussion on Farm Journal TV and YouTube via the link here:

You can also hear Hula and Dowdy’s latest discussion on AgriTalk here:

New Insect Control Tool Now Available for Use In Corn, Cotton & Cereals

Thu, 04 Dec 2025 21:03:21 GMT

A new insect control tool from Syngenta, Plinazolin, is now registered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for use in a variety of broad-acre and specialty crops including corn, cotton, cereals, vegetables and tree fruit.

Plinazolin is the trademark name for the active ingredient isocycloseram, a member of the  Insecticide Resistance Action Committee’s Group 30 .

This group of insecticides is known as GABA receptor antagonists. Plinazolin is formulated to control insect pests by contact and ingestion to quickly stop feeding.

The company spent 12 years researching and developing the product, as well as testing it in more than 3,000 U.S. trials, according to Elijah Meck, Syngenta technical product lead.

For the 2026 season, growers can purchase the product – which Syngenta reports will power five separate insecticide products – as a seed treatment, soil-applied insecticide or foliar-applied insecticide. The product is available for use subject to state approvals.

The five individual products and some of the key pests each one controls, include:

Opello : This soil-applied insecticide provides revolutionary control of corn rootworm, consistently helping corn yield up to 27 bu/A more than untreated¹, while its highly tank-mix compatible formulation allows growers to leave equipment clogs and slowdowns in the past.
Equento : This insecticide seed treatment offers a flexible and compatible option to terminate wireworms and suppress other below-ground pests, ultimately improving plant stand and helping a grower’s bottom line.
Vertento : One of the toughest insect pest fighters in its class, this foliar-applied insecticide for cotton, peanuts and onions delivers a fast-acting, knockout punch to insect pests including plant bugs, thrips and mites.
Incipio : With impressive residual strength to take the guesswork out of insect control, this foliar-applied insecticide for brassica, leafy, fruiting vegetable and cucurbit crops delivers a heavy-duty takedown of tough insect pests.
Zivalgo : This foliar-applied insecticide can lead the way for potato and tree fruit insect pest management with unmatched, broad-spectrum control of Colorado potato beetles, codling moth, citrus thrips, spider mites and more.

Syngenta notes in a statement that each formulation has been specifically designed to maximize performance based on crop needs, pest pressure and application method.

More information on the products is available at Syngenta-US.com/social .

Reference:
¹n = 8 trials with location of IA(3), WI, IL, KS, SD, MN, average injury of 1.51 and Internal and University Cooperator Field Trials 2022-2024.

New Seed Treatments Available For Soybeans, Cotton & Cereals

Mon, 10 Nov 2025 17:00:26 GMT

Farmers looking to address plant-parasitic nematodes and diseases in soybeans and cotton now have access to a new seed treatment from Syngenta. The product, branded as Victrato, has been registered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Syngenta reports Victrato features a new active ingredient, Tymirium, and will be “available in 2025 in preparation for the 2026 planting season, subject to state approvals.”

In soybeans, Victrato addresses Sudden Death Syndrome (SDS) and a broad spectrum of nematodes, including soybean cyst nematode, root knot, reniform, lance and lesion.

“I’ve worked with this compound under field evaluation over the last 10 years, and I am thrilled for soybean growers to experience this never-before-seen level of protection,” says Dale Ireland, Syngenta Seedcare technical lead, in a prepared statement.

“Victrato preserves more yield than any other molecule available, and it protects against all life stages of nematodes: eggs, juveniles and adults. This stops in-season feeding and limits future populations, giving growers the most robust solution available,” Ireland says.

Victrato is also the first federally labeled seed treatment management tool for Red Crown Rot, according to Syngenta. In addition, the product “will fortify soybean plants through early-season suppression of important foliar diseases such as Septoria brown spot, frogeye leaf spot and target spot.”

Targeted Issues In Cotton
For cotton, Victrato addresses cotton root rot and nematodes, including root knot, reniform, lance and sting.

Syngenta reports root knot and reniform nematodes led U.S. cotton yield losses in 2023-2024, while Cotton Root Rot can cost Western growers up to $100 million annually in lost yield, fiber quality and harvest efficiency.

New Premix For Cereals
For the 2026 season, Syngenta will be offering CruiserMaxx Vibrance Elite, a fungicide and insecticide seed treatment premix. The product has been registered by EPA for use in the upcoming growing season.

The premix, positioned by the company as an upgraded formulation of CruiserMaxx Vibrance Cereals, provides protection from a broad spectrum of early-season seedborne and soilborne diseases and insect pests. In addition, the product will help cereal crops emerge “evenly with strong stand establishment and root mass and help maximize plant populations.”

CruiserMaxx Vibrance Elite includes two modes of action on Rhizoctonia, Fusarium and Pythium, including mefeboxam- and ethaboxam-resistant isolates.

“The mixture of trusted ingredients helps cereal crops emerge evenly with strong stand establishment and root mass, helping to maximize plant populations,” says Bryn Hightower, product lead for Syngenta Seedcare, in a prepared statement. “Compared with other seed treatments available on the market, we’ve observed an average of 18% greater plant stand and a 3.3 bushels per acre yield increase in Pythium-inoculated winter wheat,” Hightower adds.

Your next read: Nutrien Says Quality and Resilience Are Its Fertilizer Focus, Will Review Options for Its Phosphate Business

AgZen, Corteva Team up on AI-Powered, Retrofit Sprayer Tech

Wed, 22 Oct 2025 15:08:46 GMT

AgZen announces an agreement with Corteva to further “explore the commercial potential” of AgZen’s AI-powered crop spraying optimization technology, RealCoverage.

The news comes on the heels of Corteva’s big announcement on Oct. 1 , detailing the crop protection multinational’s plan to split its crop protection and seeds businesses.

AgZen, a tech startup spun out of MIT, is making a name for itself by pioneering feedback optimization for spray applications — a new approach the company thinks has potential to improve farmer outcomes and reduce crop input costs.

(AgZen)

AgZen’s first product, RealCoverage, is a retrofit kit that can be bolted onto any sprayer to measure and optimize the number of drops of agrochemicals applied to crops. The system features a boom-mounted sensor that analyzes the coverage and quality of spray applications in real-time, displaying actionable data to a tablet mounted in the cab. Farmers can use the data to optimize the physical settings on spray rigs, both self-propelled and pull-behind, to increase coverage.

The startup says its system works by leveraging AI and cutting-edge computer vision, and customers have used RealCoverage to save 30% to 50% on input costs.

Farmer Feedback

(AgZen)

Northwest Indiana farmer Bryan Brost slapped a RealCoverage system onto his Hagie STS 16 high-clearance sprayer to use on his waxy corn and soybean crops. He says it has helped boost his spray program efficiency overall by reducing application rates while maintaining optimal coverage throughout his 12,000-acre operation.

“The payback came in the first year,” he tells Farm Journal via text message. “We have increased our acres [covered] per day with less hours on the machine, the operator and the nurse tanks supplying product [to the sprayer].”

Corey McIntosh set the technology loose across his 4,000 acre spread in Missouri Valley, Iowa. He is looking forward to using the data to improve his application efficiency across the board. He’s also letting his neighbors and local retailer in on the secret.

“I was getting a chem shuttle refilled at [the] co-op, these guys have always been complimentary of our weed control, I asked them: ‘What percentage of leaf surface area do you think you are covering with your sprayers?’ One of their best operators said he thought 50% coverage. The salesman next to him said it would definitely be more than 60%,” McIntosh says.

“They were shocked when I told them we were at 9% to 10%, but nobody has had ever had a way to quantify this before,” he adds. “We are really looking forward to making improvements.”

Since launching on the market in 2024, AgZen says it covered more than 970,000 commercial acres of application across the U.S. on row crops and specialty crops.

Your Next Read: Breakthrough Fungicide Delivers White Mold Disease Control in Key Crops

Some Farmers Are Increasing Cover Crop Acres to Cut Fertilizer Costs and Boost Soil Health

Tue, 14 Oct 2025 20:27:38 GMT

How can you trim fertilizer costs and still provide adequate nutrients for corn and soybeans next season? One solution is to consider planting some cover crops this fall, recommends David Hula, reigning world corn yield record holder.

“Nitrogen, potash, boron, sulfur… those are mobile nutrients, so if you plant a cover crop it’s going to pick up those nutrients, and then when you kill that cover crop, you can recycle that residue that was left over, or the residual nutrients that were left over,” explains Hula, who farms near Charles City, Va.

Cover crops can scavenge for nutrients from previous crops, store them and then release them for use the following season – a process that can help reduce the need for synthetic fertilizers.

Hula adds that corn and soybean growers don’t need to be using no-till on the farm to benefit.

“You can strip-till into those cover crops, or early in the spring you can work the cover crops in to get the benefits,” he says.

Randy Dowdy says one of the benefits he’s seen is that microbial activity likes to colonize around a living root mass.

“You know, it always helps our early season tissue sample values go up where we’ve got a cover crop,” says Dowdy, Hula’s partner in Total Acre . “So if guys can, at least on bean ground where they’ve harvested, get some cover crop established and get it up, from a biological play and nutrient availability play for next season, it’s a no brainer.”

Experience Has Increased Farmer Confidence
The survey data show that cover crop plantings are on the rise among farmers who already have experience using them, according to results of the September Purdue/CME Ag Economy Barometer. And, those growers will plant cover crops on a higher percentage of their total acreage this fall, reports Jim Mintert, emeritus professor of economics at Purdue University.

He says the survey trends point to broader adoption across acreage: This year, 57% of cover crop users planted them on 26% to 50% of their acres, compared to only 25% in 2021 who reported planting cover crops on more than one-fourth of their acreage.

“What the survey says is, if you use cover crops, you’re using them more intensively now than you did in the past,” Mintert adds.

He believes the increased use of cover crops by those farmers indicates they have figured out how to capitalize on the benefits.

“It’s like this learning curve, where maybe the folks that have learned how to use them are adopting them on a wider portion of their farm acreage. I think that is what we’re picking up,” Mintert says.

Where And Why Cover Crops Are Being Used
Cover crop use by farmers across the U.S. increased 17% between 2017 and 2022 – from 15,390,674 acres to 17,985,831acres – data from the 2022 Census of Agriculture show. In total, cover crops were planted on 4.7% of all cropland in 2022.

Regional differences in the use of cover crops are related to factors such as climate, soils, cropping systems, and state incentive programs, according to USDA-Economic Research Service.

(USDA-ERS)

For example, Maryland, which has the highest rate of cover crop use, has programs that encourage farmers to grow cover crops to help improve water quality in the Chesapeake Bay.

“Water quality is a big deal for those of us on the East Coast, and there are some programs available through NRCS and others that could be a little bit of a revenue stream for a grower and you can reduce some expenses,” says Hula.

Warm Conditions Could Help Stand Establishment
With the current fall conditions across the Midwest, Hula would encourage growers new to using cover crops there to experiment with them on some acres.

“A lot of times, Midwest growers are worried they’re going to run out of time to get a cover crop planted, but with as warm as it is, you have a good chance to get some growth established this fall and a good root system going before conditions turn cold,” he says.

Moisture is needed to get cover crops established well, and that is a concern in some areas this fall, cautions the Midwest Cover Crops Council. It says good soil moisture at seeding and 0.5” to 1” of rainfall after seeding will improve germination and stand establishment.

The Council has recommendations for which cover crops are a good fit by state and especially well-suited to farmers who are new to growing them. Learn more here .

Hula and Dowdy address cover crops in more detail in their Breaking Barriers with R&D during their discussion on AgriTalk:

Your next read: Farmer Finds A Silver Bullet For High Corn Yields

New Seed Treatment Offers A Solution to Soybean Cyst Nematode

Mon, 06 Oct 2025 15:36:05 GMT

As farmers and retailers battle soybean cyst nematode (SCN), the emphasis continues to be on using an integrated strategy including resistant soybean varieties, crop rotation with non-host crops, and maintaining good soil fertility.

Now, farmers and retailers have a new tool available for use next spring: biotrinsic Nemora FP, an EPA-registered soybean bionematicide seed treatment from Indigo Ag, Inc.

Jon Giebel, vice president North America Commercial-Biologicals at the company, reports the product contains a naturally occurring Pseudomonas oryzihabitans bacterium that colonizes roots and shoots. After only a few weeks, the microbes coating each seed multiply into the millions around the roots and begin supporting the crop. The microbes also colonize SCN eggs, reducing the number of juveniles that will hatch and injure plants.

“In trials, [Nemora] delivered improved plant health metrics and compelling yield potential while offering growers a biological option that can benefit soil health in the process,” Giebel says in a prepared statement.

SCN is the most costly pest in U.S. soybeans today, routinely reducing yields in affected fields by 5 bushels or more per acre, according to the Crop Protection Network.

This photo shows a Rhizobium nodule (blue arrow) and several white SCN females (red arrows) on neighboring roots. Note the size difference and that SCN are much smaller than nodules. This pest is the number one yield-limiting biotic agent of soybeans in North America, estimated to cause U.S. producers $1.5 billion a year. The reason this pest is so insidious is because SCN can cause up to 30% yield loss with no significant aboveground symptoms.

(Kyle Broderick)

October Is SCN Action Month
Indigo Ag announced its new product on Monday, which marks the third National Nematode Day .

The month of October is designated SCN Action Month. For the fifth year, BASF Agricultural Solutions and The SCN Coalition are partnering to provide farmers with the latest insights, tools and resources to effectively manage SCN and protect soybean yield potential heading into the 2026 growing season.

BASF and The SCN Coalition recommend farmers proactively sample fields post-harvest for soybean cyst nematode symptoms to safeguard crop health and maximize their yields, in preparation for next year.

“The most sustainable management approach to minimize SCN yield loss is a multi-faceted plan that can include growing nonhost crops in rotation with SCN-resistant soybean varieties and use of nematode-protectant seed treatments on the soybeans,” says Greg Tylka, Morrill professor, Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology at Iowa State University, in a statement.

New Seed Treatment Option Available For 2026
Giebel says Nemora is a microbial seed treatment in flowable powder (FP) format for soybeans and is available for planter-box treatment or through Indigo’s CLIPS delivery system. It contains a naturally occurring Pseudomonas oryzihabitans bacterium that colonizes roots and shoots.

How Nemora works:

It stimulates Induced Systemic Resistance (ISR) and forms a biofilm that supports robust root colonization.
The biological colony prevents eggs on the roots from hatching, slowing the soybean cyst nematode lifecycle without disrupting beneficial nematodes in the soil.
Once in the soil, the Pseudomonas active in Nemora recruits a diverse and specialized community of plant growth-promoting bacteria to aid in plant development.

What soybean growers can expect:

Direct impact on SCN lifecycle: Average 68% reduction in egg hatch.
Longer tap roots, more root biomass, and whiter roots.
Thicker plant shoots and improved emergence.
No interference with nodulation.
No phytotoxicity or halo effect.
Nemora can provide the same yield advantage as products like chemical solutions available on the market.

Corteva's Bold Move: What Splitting Crop Protection and Seed Businesses Means for the Future

Wed, 01 Oct 2025 17:54:13 GMT

Global agriculture technology company Corteva announced plans on Wednesday to separate into two independent, publicly traded entities: “new” Corteva, which will continue to sell crop protection products – herbicides, fungicides, insecticides and biologicals – and SpinCo, which will focus on the seed genetics business.

SpinCo will include Pioneer, the company’s legacy seed brand established in 1926, as well as Brevant and regional seed brands, including Dairyland Seed.

Upon separation of the companies, Greg Page, current Corteva chairman, will lead new Corteva, while Chuck Magro, current Corteva CEO, will become CEO of SpinCo.

In announcing the decision by Corteva, Magro said the farmer-centric organization appreciates that its customers want and need choice across their input decisions.

“The best way, maybe I can even say, the only way for this company to preserve and expand that choice and keep putting innovative, effective, sustainable solutions into the hands of farmers around the world is to give both businesses the freedom to operate without having to look out for the other,” said Magro, during an online presentation primarily focused on company investors.

He added that the separation of the company into two entities will allow both businesses to maximize long-term value for farmers, customers, employees and shareholders.

Magro described SpinCo – with expected net sales of $9.9 billion in 2025 (56% of current Corteva sales) – as “a classic growth compounder” that will pursue opportunities in out-licensing, hybrid wheat, biofuels and gene editing.

“The continued success of our SpinCo business will be predicated upon sustained investment in advanced genetics and further capitalizing on our unique route to market,” Magro said.

As a pure-play crop genetics company, Magro predicts SpinCo could go beyond its corn and soybean core into other row crops, even expanding into other areas like fruits and vegetables.

“Spinco will also look to expand on new opportunities in wheat, cotton, rice and other products, where genetics can play a transformative role,” he said. “In other words, we could see SpinCo playing in a vastly expanded addressable market.”

Corteva Crop Protection Business Is Future-Focused

For new Corteva, Magro characterized the crop protection industry as competitive and tough, but that company leaders anticipate the market will return to growth in the near future.

“At new Corteva, success will be built upon an optimized supply chain, a new level of operational excellence and the ability to invest in the next generation of sustainable, differentiated innovation, including biologicals and other nature-based products,” he said.

Magro said as company leaders weighed the pros and cons of separating the two companies, they made the decision with the future in mind.

“This is not about today, and it’s not certainly about the last six years. This is about what we see coming,” he said. “We’re in a market that we need to look out 10-years plus. That’s just the research and development and the timeline it takes to bring technology into the marketplace. So this is a long-term decision that we are making.”

Corteva’s 2025 net sales for its crop protection business are estimated to be $7.8 billion (44% of the current company’s total).

During Magro’s remarks, he gave no indication of where the two companies will be based. Corteva’s global headquarters is currently based in Indianapolis, Ind., while Johnston, Iowa, is home to its seed business.

The transaction separating Corteva and SpinCo is expected to be completed in the second half of 2026.

Corteva was formed in 2018 as the agriculture-focused subsidiary of DowDuPont, following the merger of the two companies. Corteva was spun-off as its own entity in 2019.

Your next read: Fertilizer Decisions: Balance Costs, Yields and Sustainability

Navigate 2026 Input Costs with A Proactive Strategy

Thu, 25 Sep 2025 19:05:30 GMT

While Brent Judisch is in the midst of combining his 2025 corn and soybeans, he’s also thinking about how to plan for next year’s crops and inputs specifically.

“Fertilizer prices will kind of mirror your corn prices usually, but right now they’re going opposite directions. That’s not something we can handle going forward on the farm, with the costs going up and income going down,” says Judisch, who farms in Black Hawk County, Iowa.

Price Trends For N, P And K This Year

Mark Tully, senior manager, global market research for Nutrien, tells Farm Journal wholesale nitrogen (N) fertilizer prices are up between 25% and 45%, depending on the product.

The increases are due to unexpected global supply constraints in 2025. “This trend is being driven by conflict in Europe, Middle East, and trade restrictions from China, which have all impacted production and export availability,” Tully says.

Phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) have also trended up this year. Tully reports wholesale phosphate fertilizer prices are up between 20% and 40% depending on the product, while wholesale potash prices are up about 15% from 2024 levels.

National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) projections indicate fertilizer expenditures alone could account for 36% of a corn grower’s operating costs in 2025, with little to no relief expected for 2026.

“Looking ahead to next year, [input costs] look to be going a little higher,” predicts Krista Swanson, chief economist for the NCGA. She says inputs for corn have totaled about $900 an acre annually for the past four years.

Trusted Advisers Can Help With Input Decisions

As farmers grapple with input decisions, Ken Ferrie encourages farmers to lean on their agronomists and other trusted advisers to help think through the process of where to allocate resources while still maintaining targeted yield outcomes.

For example, at current input prices, Ferrie says a corn grower might save $85 an acre by managing nitrogen more efficiently ($35), varying population according to soil type ($20) and switching to a non-GMO hybrid ($30).

“But you have to do your homework before you make these kinds of decisions or yields could potentially fall off a cliff, leaving your balance sheet in worse shape than if you’d made no change,” he cautions.

Judisch is looking to address higher input costs next year by trimming rates where soil fertility levels will allow him to pull back.

“I think we’ll probably trim back our phosphate usage [for corn] a little bit, but we’ll still go forward with potash, and you’ve got to have nitrogen. You really can’t cut there,” Judisch says.

Evaluate Purchasing Options Early For The Best Terms

Josh Linville, vice president of fertilizer for StoneX has been encouraging farmers planning to make fall anhydrous ammonia (NH3) applications to contact their suppliers now to lock in product.

While there is a good supply of NH3 in the pipeline currently, Linville is concerned the expected high demand could deplete its ready availability and lead to increased costs.

“I do think the prices will hold to push higher,” he says.

The best time for growers to contact suppliers to discuss 2026 availability and pricing of fertilizer, seed and other inputs is now, according to Jordan Howe, area manager for Nutrien Financial.

“Have an open conversation with your input providers, and explore options of early buying habits that could put you in a better position or help you capture a discount that maybe you haven’t in the past,” he says.

Howe encourages farmers to not shy away from asking questions of loan officers or financing institutions and read the fine print on any written agreement. Two key questions he recommends asking:

1. What is the price of the input if I want to pay for it in cash versus financing it?

2. If I opt to finance, what type of interest rate am I being offered – is it a fixed rate or a floating rate?

“I am seeing a lot ofunique financing opportunities out there where it might be a low, good rate early, but then it matures and turns into a much higher rate. You’ll want to consider whether you would be able to pay that off before it goes to the higher rate,” Howe says

He adds that being able to pay cash for some portion of your input needs can help you leverage your buying power to get the most competitive financing offers for the balance.

Don’t Forget To Consider Your Tax Implications

In the process of purchasing inputs for next season, keep in mind the potential taxes on products, recommends Jonathan LaPorte, Michigan State University farm business management educator.

“As you plan purchases, remember to maintain flexibility to maximize tax savings this year and next. Don’t overspend this year to save on inputs only to pay more income taxes next year,” he advises.

LaPorte offers an online Input Purchasing Plan Template in Word and Microsoft Excel to help farmers run different scenarios on input purchases based on their cropping plan for the year ahead. The template is available here .

Your next read: 26 Ideas To Cut Fertilizer Costs In 2026

West Nile Virus Activity Spikes to 20-Year High in the Midwest

Thu, 14 Aug 2025 20:04:48 GMT

Scouting cornfields now might net you a different problem than the insects you might have anticipated encountering. An Iowa State University researcher says there are “very high levels” of West Nile virus (WNV) trending in Iowa and other Midwestern states currently.

“This week had the highest observed WNV activity at this point in the summer observed in over 20 years. This trend is of serious concern for the next eight weeks when WNV transmission risks are the highest,” writes Erin Hodgson , ISU Extension entomologist specialist.

To date in 2025, there have been 219 cases of WNV reported in 29 states. In 2024, there was a total of 1,466 cases of WNV reported in the U.S., according to Vector Disease Control International.

In Iowa, data is generated from ongoing mosquito surveillance efforts coordinated by Ryan Smith, ISU associate professor and entomologist. Smith has implemented an interdisciplinary approach to examine mosquito immunity and mosquito-borne disease transmission.

Leading Cause Of Mosquito-Borne Disease
West Nile virus is transmitted through the bite of a Culex mosquito, commonly called a house mosquito. It typically picks up the virus by feeding on an infected bird. West Nile virus is the leading cause of mosquito-borne disease in the continental United States.

In general, people do not spread the infection.

There are no vaccines to prevent or medicines to treat West Nile in people. Fortunately, most people infected with the virus do not feel sick, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). About 20% of people who contract the disease will experience mild symptoms like fever, headache, and body aches.

In a small percentage of cases, the virus can cause serious neuroinvasive disease issues, such as encephalitis or meningitis, which can be severe and even fatal, the CDC reports.

People older than 60 and those with weakened immune systems are at highest risk for severe illness.

The CDC offers an interactive site where you can view and track the total number of human infections of WNV reported on a county-by-county basis. See current results in your county here .

Implement The Three Rs
To prevent mosquito bites, the CDC encourages people to practice the ‘Three Rs’:

REDUCE - make sure doors and windows have tight-fitting screens. Repair or replace screens that have tears or other openings. Try to keep doors and windows shut. Eliminate, or refresh each week, all sources of standing water where mosquitoes can breed, including water in bird baths, ponds, flowerpots, wading pools, old tires, and any other containers.

REPEL - when outdoors, wear shoes and socks, long pants and a light-colored, long-sleeved shirt, and apply an EPA-registered insect repellent that contains DEET, picaridin, oil of lemon eucalyptus, IR 3535, para-menthane-diol (PMD), or 2-undecanone according to label instructions. Consult a physician before using repellents on infants.

REPORT – report locations where you see water sitting stagnant for more than a week such as roadside ditches, flooded yards, and similar locations that may produce mosquitoes. Your local health department or city government may be able to add larvicide to the water, which will kill any mosquito larvae.

Your next read: Southern Rust Has Infected Iowa Corn in ‘Likely Every County’

Farmer Uses Late-Season Fungicide, Nutrients To Beef Up Corn Test Weight

Mon, 04 Aug 2025 21:08:24 GMT

Corn growers sometimes walk away from their crop at this point in the growing season, thinking there’s little to nothing they can do now to influence final yield and harvest outcomes.

It’s a mentality David Hula says he understands, especially this year.

“We spent a lot of time getting the right hybrid in the right environment, controlling the weeds, controlling insects, and getting the fertility out, and in that last quarter some growers, you know, sometimes they lack experience or are just tired of spending money,” Hula tells business partner Randy Dowdy, in the latest edition of their Breaking Barriers With R&D podcast.

Yet the two champion corn growers say there is still time to influence harvest outcomes.

Late-Season Yield And Test-Weight Potential
Brian Herbek, who works with Hula and Dowdy via their Total Acre program, has leaned into their advice.

“I found out a couple of years ago, there’s a lot of hidden yield out there that a lot of us leave on the table,” Herbek reports.

What he learned from the two corn yield champions is corn has the genetic ability – some hybrids more so than others – to pack starch into its kernels late-season to create higher test weights.

As a result, the Deweese, Neb., corn grower says he started scouting fields late-season to determine which ones are candidates to receive what Hula and Dowdy call “the finishing pass,” an application of fungicide or nutrients or some combination of the two.

“It’s not for every field. I’ll tell everybody that right now, there are certain fields that don’t deserve that attention,” Herbek says. “But if you know what you’re looking for, and you have that potential, that application does makes sense, but you’ve really got to know what’s out in your field.”

When Nitrogen And Fungicide Use Makes Sense
Farm Journal Field Agronomist Ken Ferrie recommends checking fields to consider what an insufficient amount of Nitrogen (N) at this point in the season could mean to yield results.

“Plants running out of N at R4 run the risk of tip abortion,” he notes, as a for instance. “At R5, tip kernels are going to get light, and if it’s a D hybrid, it’s going to cost you in late fill.”

Ferrie describes D hybrids as those that need nitrogen during grain fill to max out yield.

”Depth of kernel comes at the end of grain fill — the last half of the 60 or so days after pollination through black layer,” Ferrie explains. “They need to stay green as long as possible and finish the season strong. Many new hybrids are D types.”

Hula says a fungicide application now can help make sure corn leaves and stalks stay greener longer, putting more energy into kernel development.

“If we can pick up a half a pound or a pound more test weight, that’s a bonus,” he says. “The other thing I want to say about green stalks, particularly for guys where residue management is a problem – the green stalks at harvest are going to deteriorate or decay much faster than those that are not green.”

Why Care About Test Weight?
Test weight is commonly used by buyers as a way to evaluate grain quality. A higher test weight indicates a greater proportion of the grain’s volume is filled with the nutrient-rich endosperm, meaning more available energy and nutrients, says Todd Whitney, Extension educator at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, in an online article .

High test-weight corn is generally more valuable to buyers, though the extent of this value can vary. Some buyers prefer higher test-weight grain due to its higher starch content and better storage properties.

One thing to note here: While hybrid genetics play an important role in test weight determination, there is no correlation between test weight and yield potential of a hybrid. Corn grain in the U.S. is marketed specific to a 56-lb. bushel regardless of test weight.

“Corn farmers are often concerned with low test weight because that means local grain buyers may have to discount the market grain prices paid. In addition, if you were to deliver a semi-load of low test weight grain (e.g., 52 lbs/bu) then this specific load would contain less ‘56-lb bushels’ and you would be paid less for the load on a per volume basis,” explains Dan Quinn, Extension corn specialist at Purdue University, in an online article.

“Whereas, if you were to deliver a semi-load of high test-weight grain (e.g., 58 lbs./bu.) then that load would contain more ‘56-lb. bushels’ and you would be paid more for the load on a per volume basis,” Quinn writes.

What To Look For In The Field Now
Here are some of the factors Herbek takes into consideration as he evaluates which fields warrant another pass of fungicide, fertility or both:

Crop Quality: More yield potential or a heavier test weight has to be available for product applications to provide sufficient ROI. Plant tissue tests can help identify nutrient deficiencies and guide late-season applications.

Additional factors that affect crop quality that Herbek considers are pest and disease pressure, standability and stalk quality, and moisture availability.

Crop maturity. Hybrid maturity and planting date have been found to influence susceptibility to yield loss from foliar diseases, writes Mark Jeschke, agronomy manager for Pioneer, in this online article .

He says later planted fields and/or later maturing hybrids can be more vulnerable to yield loss because they are still filling grain while disease development is peaking in late summer. Therefore, these later fields are often more likely to benefit from a fungicide application.

Herbek says he also takes into consideration each hybrid’s growing degree days, and how long he has before his crop reaches the finish line.

“We’ve got, I’m guessing, probably 45 to 50 days yet to put something in that kernel and give us some extra test weight,” he says. “So we still have some time to influence it yet.”

Herbek also offers some thoughts on how farmers can improve next season’s corn crop by prioritizing their planter and planting practices. You can catch the details on Breaking Barriers With R&D at Farm Journal TV and YouTube .

Your next read: Breaking Barriers with R&D: Split the Planter, Split the Risk

Drones Help Soybean Grower Hit the Bull's Eye of Efficiency

Tue, 10 Jun 2025 10:38:16 GMT

Drones are helping Alex Harrell take efficiency to the next level on his southwest Georgia farm and cut costs in the process.

“The drones are running foliar and fungicide treatments and stink bug spray every day now. We’re running wide open,” says Harrell, who farms 4,000 acres of corn, soybeans, watermelons and wheat in Lee County, Ga.

With two drones, Harrell can easily cover 500 acres of crops in a day – and even more if the situation warrants.

“We rarely call in an airplane, because we can mix and spray everything ourselves and we don’t have to worry if it’s mixed right,” he says. “We can go out to the field at daylight, the middle of the day or night, or whenever we want – all on our schedule.”

Timely Applications And Better ROI

Application timing is critical when it comes to growing high-yielding crops, Harrell tells David Hula, world champion corn grower, on this week’s Breaking Barriers with R&D podcast.

“Take away timeliness and it doesn’t matter how you spray or what fertilizer or products you use because they will not work right,” says Harrell, who holds the world record for soybean yields.

He scored back-to-back wins in the Georgia Soybean Production Contest with 218.2856 bushels per acre in 2024 and 206.7997 bushels in 2023.

Harrell says there are pros and cons to using a drone, as there are with adopting any other technology.

The main pushback he gets from other farmers is they tell him an airplane can spray 10 times as much as a drone in a day.

“My argument is like, ‘Well, it should. A plane costs about $1 million, while this drone is $30,000 and runs on a battery. It’s also not going to replace a $700,000 sprayer. But what a drone will do is allow you to do all the mixing and spraying yourself and on your own schedule,” Harrell says.

“Getting an aerial applicator to spray more gallons (higher volume) can be tough … some will fight you tooth and nail on that, because they get paid by the acre,” he adds.

Hula says he’s been tempted to buy a drone at different times over the years, but he’s always talked himself out of it. “Every time I go to Commodity Classic or a farmer clinic, there’ll be a drone guy there and I’ll think, man, I need a drone. But then I’d have to be home to fly it, and it would be another time commitment.”

More Opportunity For Revenue

Increased application flexibility and the opportunity to pick up some side jobs are factors that appealed to southwest Wisconsin farmer Caleb Wolters, who bought a drone this past winter.

“We’re spraying acres for ourselves and then we’ve lined up a bit of custom work as well,” Wolters says. “Foliar stuff, doing some on-farm trials with it, too, mostly fungicides, and we might do a little bit with herbicides.

“There’s a few drones in our area, so I won’t be the first one to use one,” Wolters adds. “But if things go well this year, we’re going to push it a little harder next year. It is always good to have another revenue stream.”

Like with anything new, Harrell says practice improves application results over time.

“We’ve wrecked several drones, found a lot of glitches, tried multiple brands and multiple models, and overall they’ve been really helpful to us,” says Harrell, who’s used them on his farm for four years.

He delves more into the topic with AgriTalk host Chip Flory on Tuesday’s program here .

There are between 30,000 and 40,000 agricultural drones used in the U.S. currently, according to Arthur Erickson, CEO and co-founder of Hylio. The Texas-based company designs, manufactures and offers autonomous drone systems.

Along with product applications, drones equipped with sensors can provide farmers with valuable data on crop health, soil conditions, and other factors, enhancing precision agriculture, according to Erickson.

More Durable Today, Better Performance

Harrell notes that manufacturers have improved the quality and performance of drones over the years.

“And they’ve gotten bigger. When we started out with drones, it was with a 30-liter tank and spray tips that stopped up with every pass,” he recalls, laughing. “Now we’ve got bigger atomizers, and we’re up to a 50-liter tank and a bigger pump, so spraying goes a lot faster. We can open that canopy up and really get down in there with a product.”

For spray volume, Harrell says he usually goes with 3 gallons per acre. “We run some pretty heavy mixes, so we’ve got to have a little bit of water,” he says. “If we’re just spraying one or two things, I’ll run 2 gallons (per acre) all day long and not think about it. But normally we need a bit more carrier there to mix stuff. I rarely ever go above 3 gallons.”

Beyond product applications Harrell uses drones to desiccate soybeans once they reach maturity. While he sometimes uses a single-pass approach for that purpose, he prefers using a two-pass method.

“I’ll go spray and burn the tops of the plants first, then wait 48 hours and spray a second time to penetrate down further in the soybeans,” he says. “I’m not putting more product on, I’m just cutting it in half and spraying twice.”

The ultimate benefit from desiccating soybeans, Harrell says, is the practice allows him to get into fields earlier for harvest, helping him maintain test weights and preserve yields in the process.

More Jobs To Do On The Farm

Hula teasingly asked Harrell whether he had recently learned how to employ drones to do a new job on his farm.

“Yeah, I don’t know if we need to talk about that, but we sure did,” Harrell says. He laughs and then proceeds to tell Hula the full story – something about a grain bin with a 120-foot elevator, a broken gearbox and how using a drone to install the new gearbox made more sense to him and cost less than renting a crane.

Get the full story, and enjoy the many laughs between Harrell, Hula and Wolters here .

You’ll also want to hear Hula, Harrell and Waters discuss how precision singulation can increase soybean yields and the pivotal role of soil biology in corn yields. Plus, the three farmers share practical insights from crop tours across multiple states and innovative grain storage solutions like grain bags for improved farm profitability and resilience.

You can also watch the Breaking Barriers with R&D podcast at Farm Journal TV - Agriculture video on demand.

Your next read: Three Proven, Post-Planting Practices to Use In Corn

MAHA Report's Surprising Stance on Glyphosate, Atrazine Explained

Fri, 23 May 2025 19:15:38 GMT

Anxiety levels among some members of the agricultural community were off the proverbial charts going into the unveiling of the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Commission’s report on Thursday.

The concerns were well-founded, based on the body of work done by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., as an environmental lawyer, over the past decade. Kennedy, now U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary, is long-known for opposing herbicides and other crop protection products, having helped win a 2018 lawsuit filed against Monsanto, the original producer of Roundup (glyphosate).

Yet, when the details of the 68-page NAHA Report became public, the hammer many members of the agricultural community expected would slam down on herbicides was more akin to a hard smack from a fly swatter.

AgriTalk Host Chip Flory credits the work of USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins – who has championed agriculture’s efforts to produce feed, fuel and fiber for American consumers and the global economy – as a key reason the Report was subdued on the topic of pesticides, namely glyphosate and atrazine. Flory talked with Rollins last week, well before the Report was released.

“I think the most important thing I can say here is that the comments about pesticides, based on what Secretary Rollins told me, I believe they were going to be much scarier for the farm community than what they ended up being,” Flory told U.S. Farm Report Host, Tyne Morgan.

“I think this MAHA Report and the lack of an attack on glyphosate and atrazine, I think this is all the evidence we need to prove that she very much has a say in what’s happening with this administration,” Flory adds.

American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall agrees with Flory, but added he was “deeply troubled” by what he read in the Report.

“We suspect USDA had a prominent role in the report’s recognition that farmers are the critical first step in the food system, but as a whole, the report falls short,” Duvall says in a prepared statement.

In addition to Rollins, there were call outs by farmers and  more than 300 agriculture organizations advocating for the preservation of science-based systems and credible data in their evaluations of products and practices essential to food and agriculture, leading up to the Report’s release.

Ag Weighs In On Report’s Muted Criticism Of EPA, USDA
The muted attack by the Report on crop protection products was not lost on ag industry groups, including the Agricultural Retailers Association (ARA), which noted in a prepared release that the expected finger pointing at atrazine, glyphosate and chloripyrifos was “hidden in the Report.”

Specifically, the Report calls out the three products on page 35 of the Making Our Children Healthy Again Report , as part of its list of “exposure pathways” that can contribute to chronic disease in children.

The Report also soft-pedals its criticism of the U.S. regulatory system, noting: “…Regulatory and medical systems around the world largely evaluate chemicals or chemical classes individually and may be neglecting potential synergistic effects and cumulative burdens, thereby missing opportunities to translate cumulative risk assessment into the clinical environment in meaningful ways. The cumulative effect of multiple chemical exposures and impact on children over time is not fully understood.”

Ag groups including ARA, CropLife America and the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives (NCFC) released statements in support of the U.S. regulatory system.

“[The MAHA Report does] not reflect the wealth of evidence developed over decades by federal agencies such as the EPA and USDA on the safety of crop inputs and food production methods. These institutions have consistently reaffirmed the safety and efficacy of the systems that help feed our country and the world,” says the NCFC.

Farmers And Ag Groups Need To Be At The Table
The National Farmers Union (NFU) praised the MAHA Report for its focus on the health and well-being of children, while also shedding light on the lack of opportunity farmers and other members of the agricultural community had to participate in the Report’s development.

“We urge the administration to include the voices of family farmers and ranchers … and to ensure that solutions are rooted in sound science, fairness and transparency,” NFU says in a prepared statement.

Jon Doggett says agricultural groups tried to get a seat at the table to provide input for the Report but were largely shut out of discussions.

“That really concerned a lot of people, and my phone started blowing up earlier this week. The ag groups were trying to get in to talk to (Secretary Kennedy), trying to have a conversation about what this is, and that didn’t happen,” says Doggett, former CEO of the National Corn Growers Association and now principal for Camas Creek Consulting.

What farmers want, with regard to the discussions around agricultural products, is decisions that are based on peer-reviewed, established science that’s well-documented, Doggett adds.

“They want a regulatory process that is transparent and allows agriculture to have an input, whether it’s on pesticides, seed oils, ethanol or whatever,” he says. “[There] needs to be good science used, and so far we haven’t seen the Department of Health and Human Services come through very well with good science.”

There is still time for agriculture to have a voice in the process. The Executive Order creating the MAHA Commission directs a second report, providing policy recommendations, be issued within 80 days.

Individuals who want to share their perspectives with the Trump Administration and Congress can submit a letter at https://www.farmervoicesmatter.org .

Your next read: Farmers and Farm Groups Push Back on MAHA Report

Farmers and Farm Groups Push Back on MAHA Report

Thu, 22 May 2025 22:53:30 GMT

Agriculture might have had a collective “we told you so” moment on Thursday, given its swift response to the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Commission’s report unveiled earlier that day.

Many farm organizations say the 68-page document, Making Our Children Healthy Again Report , is filled with “ fear-based rather than science-based information about pesticides ,” positioning that will sow seeds of distrust with the American public.

“This report will stir unjustified fear and confusion among American consumers who live in the country with the safest and most abundant food supply,” says Alexandra Dunn, president and CEO of CropLife America, in a prepared statement.

What The MAHA Report Says
The MAHA report declares: “Today’s children are the sickest generation in American history in terms of chronic disease … . These preventable trends continue to worsen each year, posing a threat to our nation’s health, economy, and military readiness.”

The crisis, the report adds, can be traced in part to the consolidation of the U.S. food system. On one hand, the report says the progress made in producing food is “largely thanks to the hard work of American farmers, ranchers, and food scientists.”

However, the report adds the rise of ultra-processed foods has corresponded with a pattern of corporatization and consolidation in the U.S. food system. The report lays the blame for many of U.S. children’s health problems on the food they are eating:

The American food system is safe but could be healthier. Most American children’s diets are dominated by ultra-processed foods (UPFs) high in added sugars, chemical additives, and saturated fats, while lacking sufficient intakes of fruits and vegetables. This modern diet has been linked to a range of chronic diseases, including obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and certain cancers. The excessive consumption of UPFs has led to a depletion of essential micronutrients and dietary fiber, while increasing the consumption of sugars and carbohydrates, which negatively affects overall health.

Nearly 70% of an American child’s calories today comes from ultra-processed foods (increased from zero 100 years ago), many of which are designed to override satiety mechanisms and increase caloric intake.

UPFs make up over 50% of the diets of pregnant and postpartum mothers.

American children’s exposure to environmental chemicals: The cumulative load of thousands of synthetic chemicals that our children are exposed to through the food they eat, the water they drink, and the air they breathe may pose risks to their long-term health, including neurodevelopmental and endocrine effects.

Over 40,000 chemicals are registered for use in the U.S. Pesticides, microplastics, and dioxins are commonly found in the blood and urine of American children and pregnant women—some at alarming levels.

Children are particularly vulnerable to chemicals during critical stages of development—in utero, infancy, early childhood, and puberty. Research suggests that for some chemicals, this cumulative load of exposures may be driving higher rates of chronic disease.

According to Courtney Gaine, Ph.D, R.D., Sugar Association president and CEO, added sugars make up around 12% of Americans’ total calories — the lowest level in 40 years and near the lowest level ever recorded at 11% in 1909. The steep decline in added sugars intake over the past 25 years has coincided with rising rates of childhood obesity and chronic disease.

“America’s hardworking sugarbeet and sugarcane farmers agree that chronic diseases are serious and warrant attention and rigorous scientific review to determine their root causes,” Gaine says. “We are confident that continued evaluation of gold-standard evidence will reaffirm what hundreds of years of history have indicated that balanced diets have room for moderate amounts of real sugar, which plays many important functional roles in foods and generally cannot be removed without adding industrial additives like artificial sweeteners that Americans prefer to avoid.”

Calls Go Out For USDA and EPA To Respond
CropLife America’s Dunn is concerned the MAHA report casts doubt on the integrity of EPA’s federal review process for crop protection products .

“Without access to EPA-approved pesticides, significant crop losses would threaten the livelihood of family farms and lead to higher grocery prices and fewer healthy food options for families – the very opposite of what the MAHA Commission seeks to achieve,” Dunn says.

The Agricultural Retailers Association criticizes the anti-science pesticide claims in MAHA Report , saying: “Hidden in the report is a call for consideration of ‘actions that further regulate or restrict crop protection tools beyond risk-based and scientific processes set forth by Congress.’ In other words, the MAHA Commission Report calls for the United States to abandon its gold standard regulatory system and instead embrace a hazard-based precautionary system that includes non-scientific factors, such as that in the European Union.”

To ARA’s point, the MAHA Report calls out atrazine, chlorpyriphos and glyphosate on page 35 of the document as pesticides that are “exposure pathways” for children.

The MAHA Report calls out atrazine, chlorpyriphos and glyphosate as pesticides that are “exposure pathways” for children. This graphic element was published on page 35 of the Report.

(The MAHA Report)

Farmers and  more than 300 agriculture organizations  have engaged with the Commission to advocate for the preservation of science-based systems and credible data in their evaluations of products and practices essential to food and agriculture – including pesticides such as glyphosate – in recent weeks. However, Zippy Duvall, American Farm Bureau Federation president, says farmers “were excluded from development of the report, despite many requests for a seat at the table.”

The American Soybean Association (ASA) says it strongly rebukes the MAHA report : “[It is] brazenly unscientific and damaging to consumer confidence in America’s safe, reliable food system. Should the [Trump] administration act on the report — which was drafted entirely behind closed doors — it will harm U.S. farmers, increase food costs for consumers, and worsen health outcomes for all Americans. ASA calls on President Trump, who has long been a friend of farmers, to step in and correct the Commission’s deeply misguided report.”

Jon Doggett, former CEO of the National Corn Growers Association and current principal at Camas Creek Consulting, says he would like to hear more perspective from leadership at USDA and EPA on the Report.

“We would hope that Secretary Rollins and [EPA] Administrator Zeldin would have a lot more say on this than what we are seeing so far,” Doggett says.

Doggett expands on his concerns regarding the MAHA Report in a conversation with Host Chip Flory on AgriTalk.

Individuals who want to share their perspectives with the Trump Administration and Congress can submit a letter at https://www.farmervoicesmatter.org .

The Executive Order creating the MAHA Commission directs a second report, providing policy recommendations, be issued within 80 days.

Your next read: Farmers Brace for Impact: What the MAHA Report Could Mean for Agriculture

Why U.S. Agriculture Needs More AI Investment to Stay Ahead in Global Crop Innovation Race

Tue, 20 May 2025 18:15:48 GMT

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a key tool in accelerating the discovery, development and manufacturing of new crop protection molecules to fight yield-robbing weeds, pests, and diseases in U.S. farm fields.

The technology helps researchers shorten the discovery window and find new and novel active-ingredient molecules that are much more difficult and expensive to uncover using traditional research methods.

That was among the talking points that emerged from Tuesday’s congressional hearing on AI in farming, held in front of the U.S. House of Representatives Science, Space, and Technology Committee in Washington, D.C.

Related: The New Space Race: Why America Must Focus On AI

At the hearing, key agricultural stakeholders advocated for increasing government investment in AI technology and infrastructure. The group warned Congress that America’s status as a world leader in AI has been usurped by Japan and China, while other rival countries are also gunning for top positions.

Testifying on behalf of U.S. agriculture was Corteva Vice President of Agricultural Solutions Brian Lutz, University of Florida associate professor Chris Swale and University of Illinois assistant professor Boris Camiletti.

“AI is without a doubt one of the most profound technologies ever to be invented,” Lutz said. “We believe there is tremendous opportunity for our government to support and incentivize advanced innovation — including by leveraging the benefits of AI — to benefit American farmers. If we want to win, we need to move smarter and faster than our competition. Corteva believes with the support of our government, we will do exactly that.”

Lutz said researchers at Corteva recently used AI to model how 10,000 different molecules might be used in crop protection, all within a matter of weeks. The Corteva model was able to identify dozens of new potential crop protection molecules that its overworked chemists could not have found otherwise. He said the company is currently testing a handful of these molecules and AI will also play a role in moving the testing phase along more quickly than traditional lab-based methods.

Lutz also told Congress how Corteva scientists have deployed AI technology in its fermentation processes, which the company uses to create what he called “molecules of interest” for evaluation. Over the past few years, Corteva has used AI modeling to engineer various bacterial strains that drive fermentation reactions and optimize reaction conditions, allowing the company to run a manufacturing operation that is as efficient as possible. This application of AI helps Corteva maintain a strong U.S. manufacturing base in the Midwest, Lutz said.

“This is the new face of ag innovation,” he added. “We can accelerate discovery of new classes of crop protection products, like biologicals — nature-based solutions that help farmers grow more food by working alongside traditional crop protection products. With AI, we can begin to predict the incredible diversity of biomolecules and metabolites that are produced by microbes and other organisms, with the goal of unlocking the secrets within plant biology to develop the next generation of safe, highly targeted, nature-inspired products.”

Swale testified to AI’s role in helping researchers on his team find and develop biological-based treatments to combat Asian citrus psyllid, an invasive pest that has left the Florida citrus industry — valued at almost $10 billion just five years ago — teetering on the brink of collapse. Effective synthetic chemicals to manage the Asian citrus psyllid exist, but the regulatory hurdles to get those products onto the market are too high, he said

“We have turned to using AI to help discover chemicals of the natural world because the registration requirements are significantly lower when compared to synthetic insecticides,” Swale said.

Camiletti leads a team of researchers combining plant pathology, remote sensing and AI to help U.S. soybean farmers overcome red crown rot, a soil-borne disease first detected in Illinois soybean fields in 2018.

Illinois has been hit the hardest by the yield-robbing disease, Camiletti said, and the pathogen is spreading rapidly to Indiana, Kentucky and Missouri. The disease is difficult to detect visually, he added, and once symptoms appear it’s often too late for successful remediation.

“My team uses satellite imagery and machine learning to identify red crown rot hot spots, and we train the models with high resolution multi-spectral data to near-infrared bands and use ground observations to teach the algorithm what diseased plants look like,” Camiletti said. “This technology has real on-farm impact. We are building tools that generate prescription maps so instead of applying fungicides across entire fields farmers can target only the affected areas.”

After key witness testimony concluded, the committee opened the floor to questions from members of Congress. Watch the full hearing via the video embedded below:

Your Next Read: Decode MAHA’s Potential Effect on the Agriculture Sector

Bayer to Exit U.S. Seed Treatment Equipment Business, Email Says

Thu, 08 May 2025 16:16:09 GMT

Bayer is exiting the seed treatment equipment business in the United States to help the company’s finances, according to an email sent to customers that was seen by Reuters on Wednesday.

The German maker of drugs and farming pesticides has struggled recently with weak earnings, rising legal costs and a lagging share price.

A spokesperson confirmed that Bayer was exiting the business, which manufactured equipment involved in the process of treating farm seeds with products like fungicides and insecticides before planting in efforts to protect crop yields.

“This is a difficult decision, but necessary to help secure the financial future of the company,” the email said. It added that Bayer decided to direct resources toward primary areas of strength in crop protection products.

The company will begin the process of closing a seed treatment equipment manufacturing facility in Shakopee, Minnesota, over the next few months, according to the email.

Bayer in 2015 opened a $12 million SeedGrowth Equipment Innovation Center in Shakopee that sought to improve research links between equipment and seed treatment products.

Bayer is committed to seed treatments though it will no longer manufacture seed treatment equipment, the email said.

What Agronomists And Farmers Need to Know About Endangered Species Act in 2025

Wed, 07 May 2025 11:00:00 GMT

With the final herbicide rule and final insecticide rule announced by EPA, farmers and applicators will be phasing in new considerations with every new product label and FIFRA re-registration.

“Don’t panic,” says independent crop consultant Steve Hoffman with In-Depth Agronomy. “This is going to be a gradual phase in, and I know it’s definitely adding complexity.”

Independent consultants James Todd and Hoffman have been following the development of these rules, working with federal agencies to schedule about what everyone should know and how this year is pivotal to the future of pesticide use.

“Every new pesticide that gets registered through EPA, and every current pesticide that gets re registered has to come into compliance with new language on the label, Todd says. “Each pesticide is going to be unique and unique to also different endangered species. So the requirement in one part of the country might look different in another part of the country.”

The rules are the result of the EPA taking action to enforce its regulatory authority for the Endangered Species Act. Although the law is 50 years old, in recent years federal courts have announced rulings limiting pesticide use relative to ESA.

“Those lawsuits resulted in a judge somewhere saying, ‘Okay, you have not met this requirement, and we’re going to cancel this pesticide,’” Hoffman explains. “That’s where agriculture was at—we could have just lost any pesticide label instantly. So agriculture has the burden on our back to show that we care about endangered species, and we can do something. This is an opportunity. We just need to see this opportunity to make sure it stays a positive.”

Since the final herbicide rule, EPA issued a label for BASF’s Liberty Ultra, which could be looked to as a model for how these regulations will be applied to products. There hasn’t been a label for an insecticide yet issued , but many expect those labels to mirror how the herbicide rule was applied.

“Growers should go out and take a look at the Liberty Ultra label, because that’s the framework,” Todd says. “There are certain mitigations practices that you can do to earn points—erosion and runoff—and spray drift, and there are PULAs (geographic limitations.) Everyboyd has something that they need to do or be aware of that they need to do. Even if you’re not applying Liberty Ultra this year, look at its label and become familiar with what steps are going to be required.”

While the final herbicide rule and the final insecticide rule require evaluating the product and field, consulting the EPA website, and keeping record of your workplan, Hoffman and Todd have been engaging with other consultants, farmers, and federal agencies in the development of the rules to take into current production practices.

Last year, Hoffman hosted a two-day tour in Wisconsin with multiple federal agencies to discuss farmer practices, production considerations related to the upcoming regulations. The National Alliance of Crop Consultants is repeating the idea this coming year in Virginia and North Carolina.

Hear more in The Scoop podcast:

Breaking Down EPA's New Action Plan for Insecticides

Wed, 30 Apr 2025 15:02:34 GMT

In the trio of Endangered Species Act (ESA) enforcement regulations — herbicide, insecticide and fungicide — the industry now has two of the three to consider.

The final herbicide rule was released in 2024, and just yesterday EPA released its final insecticide rule. This comes after the draft insecticide rule was first released in July 2024, and the final rule takes into account the public comments provided during the comment period.

These EPA regulations are a response by the agency to enforce ESA at the agency level rather than through litigation and the court system.

As new insecticides are registered and existing products are re-registered via the FIFRA process, they will need to comply to the new rule. Unlike the herbicide final strategy already being applied to the label for BASF’s Liberty Ultra, the industry does not have a product to look to as it applies to the insecticide rule, yet.

“Late yesterday, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its final Endangered Species Act (ESA) Insecticide Strategy. The Agricultural Retailers Association (ARA) plans to thoroughly review the proposal and provide feedback to the EPA’s Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP), addressing any questions or concerns that may arise,” says Richard Gupton, senior vide president of public policy and counsel for the Agricultural Retailers Association. “At first glance, it appears that the agency is considering the input from impacted agricultural stakeholders, which is encouraging. We will gain a clearer understanding once new labels are registered, and we can observe whether commercial applicators and farmers are afforded the necessary flexibility to utilize these products without facing undue regulatory burdens or additional operating costs.”

3 Steps Behind the Rule

Step 1

Establishes the potential for population-level impacts to the listed species as not likely, low, medium, or high. The low, medium, and high categories indicate a potential concern for population-level impacts that may need mitigation

Step 2

Identifies levels of mitigations that reduce spray drift and runoff/erosion to non-target habitats (e.g., low impacts would be addressed with fewer mitigations than medium or high potential impacts). EPA developed menus that identify mitigations that the Agency has determined to be effective at reducing spray drift and runoff/erosion in different parts of the country.

Step 3

Applies the mitigations by geography, crop type, etc. In those cases, EPA would specify the mitigations on the general pesticide product label. In other cases, mitigations may only apply in geographically specific areas (referred to as Pesticide Use Limitation Areas or PULAs). For geographically specific mitigations, the pesticide labeling would include a direction for the user to access EPA’s Bulletins Live! Two (BLT) website to determine whether they are in an area that requires mitigation.

Mitigation Efforts

Similar to the herbicide rule, retailers and farmers can expect to calculate necessary mitigation efforts including spray drift and runoff/erosion considerations.

Per the Final Insecticide Strategy, farmers and retailers can expect EPA is working to:

develop a process to qualify individual conservation programs that could achieve 9 mitigation points
reconsider using descriptions of protected areas or habitat, as opposed to (or to supplement) the descriptions of managed areas (e.g., what is not a protected area) in the Final Insecticide Strategy.
Develop refined Pesticide Use Limitation Area (PULA) maps2 to limit the spatial extent of off-target mitigations to specific areas to protect listed species and to minimize impacts to applicators
continue to work with stakeholders to evaluate drift-reducing adjuvants as a mitigation measure for insecticides.
work with stakeholders to identify additional mitigation options including potential offset opportunities for insecticides and other types of pesticides.
develop a mobile-friendly application tool for growers and other applicators that provides efficiencies in compiling the label information and helps pesticide users consider their options and understand how their current practices, location, and field properties relate to any required mitigations.

Unlock Profits: 5 Essential Questions for Early Soybean Planting

Tue, 15 Apr 2025 15:43:17 GMT

In the rush to get early soybeans planted, here are five questions to ask yourself prior to putting seed in the ground:

1. Are you using seed treatments to protect the crop?
Early-planted soybeans often stay in the ground up to 25 days, which makes them more vulnerable to disease and insect pressure. Seed treatments can mitigate a lot of risk.

“Today we have fungicides and insecticides to protect those beans at planting, which we didn’t have 10 years ago,” says Ken Ferrie, Farm Journal Field Agronomist, based in central Illinois.

Pest pressure is typically higher early in the growing season as soil and air temperatures warm, triggering life cycles for not only freshly planted soybean seeds, but also pathogens, insects, and nematodes that feed on newly germinated seedlings, adds Jacquie Holland, an economist with the American Soybean Association (ASA).

Holland reports that a 2024 ASA/United Soybean Board survey done with 491 growers indicates 90% of U.S. soybean acres are planted with treated seeds. Only 3% of respondents had never planted any treated soybean seeds.

Fungicides and insecticides are the most widely used seed treatments with 72% and 66%, respectively, of farmers surveyed by ASA indicating these products are applied before planting.

2. Are you a one planter operation?
That will determine whether you have the capacity or equipment to plant soybeans and corn at the same time, if soil and weather conditions permit planting both.

You want to be able to plant corn when conditions are right. Never delay corn planting.

“Once conditions are ideal, you must plant corn,” Ferrie says. “If you miss the sweet spot, you could lose a ½ bu. to 1 bu. of corn per acre for each day’s delay.”

There are various solutions to potential planting bottlenecks. For instance, you can plant soybeans, switch to corn when conditions are right and then finish soybeans whenever you can.

“That mitigates risk by spreading out soybean maturity,” Ferrie says.

Learn more about how to address labor and equipment needs at Eight Steps to Early Soybean Planting

3. Have you considered soybean variety planting order?
Ferrie recommends going with your fullest season beans first and saving shorter season beans for planting later. It sounds counterintuitive, but there are good reasons for that advice.

“Based on our observations, we must plant full-season soybeans early enough to reach at least the three-trifoliate stage before the pre-solstice nights get too short,” Ferrie says. “There’s more time to get your short-season varieties planted early because they need fewer hours of darkness to trigger flowering.”

If early planted soybeans don’t get big enough to start flowering before the solstice, they will produce tall plants and that’s not necessarily a positive.

“The plants will continue to grow, adding vegetative stages until they reach R5 because flowering will be delayed until the nights get long enough after the solstice to trigger the reproductive stage. Tall plants don’t correlate with a yield increase. In two decades of studies, we have seen shoulder-high soybean plants lodge more often and yield less than waist-high plants,” Ferrie says.

4. Is your weed-control program in order?
“With early planting, the time frame for applying burndown, preplant and pre-emergence soybean herbicides is likely to coincide with corn planting,” says Ferrie.

“If your custom applicator is applying preplant and pre-emergence herbicides on corn, he might not want to stop, clean out a sprayer and apply soybean herbicides. I’ve seen soybean planting delayed three weeks while growers waited for a burndown herbicide application,” he adds.

Along with that, you also might need to consider a different option, such as using a pre-emergence soil-applied herbicide with residual control, Ferrie says, as a for instance.

“Follow that with a post-emergence application, applied a little earlier than you are used to. You might need to include a residual herbicide in the post-emergence treatment.”

5. Are you prepared to give soybeans a helping hand?
As soybeans try to emerge they may need some help if the surface crust is hard, meaning you might need to run a rotary hoe. If your hoe has been sitting in a shed forever, now’s the time to get it ready.

“We always say ‘hoe before you know,’” Ferrie says. “When you know you’re already in trouble with the crust, that’s when it’s usually getting too late to get the full benefit out of a rotary hoe. With these prices, you need to play every card you’ve got to add yield,” he says.

The same “hoe before you know” principle applies equally well to corn crops. You can learn more about the process from Ferrie’s video on YouTube Hoe Before You Know