Cutting Costs With Soil Fertility Decisions

In this difficult financial year, farmers are looking to cut costs wherever they can. When it comes to soil fertility, there will be some difficult decisions to make.

“The first thing I’m probably going to cut out is my salesman’s favorite specialty product that may or may not be helpful,” says Megan Bourns, Purdue Extension’s new soil fertility specialist. She joined us on the latest Purdue Crop Chat podcast from Hoosier Ag Today.

“We want to try and stick to what’s going to reliably give us yield increases or return on investment. Do those things work? Sure, some of the time, probably. Do we know what that looks like every year? Probably not.”

Bourns says you need data to make these critical decisions.

“If you’re not routinely soil testing, this is probably a good year to think about starting that in the near future, because using those soil test values to make an informed decision about where to cut back is really helpful and valuable.”

Another place to start is looking at your phosphorus and potassium levels. Do you need to add more P and K?

“It kind of depends on what your cash flow is looking like and what your comfort level is with cutting back. But if you’re sitting well above those critical levels, could you forego your regular application completely? Yeah, you probably could and be okay with it. Just keep in mind what comes on the other side of this year, right? Because you’re going to draw down your soil test levels a little bit, but P and K is, for sure, the first place that I would look.”

Hear more from Bourns as she chats with Dan ‘Corn’ Quinn and ‘Soybean Shaun’ Casteel in the latest Purdue Crop Chat. Watch below or tune in wherever you listen to podcasts.