By Brian Hefty

If I offered you 2 bushels and you gave me 1 bushel in return, would you take the deal? How about if I offer you 1.5 bushels for 1?  How about 1.25 bushels for 1?

Now let’s say that in soybeans, I want you to use the following products:

  • Inovate or Acceleron fungicide/insecticide seed treatment
  • ROOTastic inoculant
  • A pre-emerge herbicide like Valor or one of the Authority products
  • 2 applications, rather than 1, of SelectMax for volunteer corn
  • Silencer insecticide to stop aphids, beetles, hoppers, corn rootworm beetles, etc.
  • Headline or Domark fungicide
  • AC-97 foliar fertilizer

By doing ALL 7 of these things, you’ll invest around $42.

“Well, I can’t ‘spend’ that much on my soybean crop!” is the response many farmers will give me.  I can’t tell you how much I hate the word “spend” when it comes to crop inputs.  When used properly, and that’s the key, these things are all investments that should pay off.  Look, I’m not trying to give you a sales pitch, but I’m trying to challenge your thinking.  You’ve often heard the phrase “save your way to prosperity.”  I’m not saying you should just carelessly throw your money about, but I am saying to look hard at every possible investment you have out there today, and do what you can to get a great return.  You know the bank doesn’t pay much right now.  You know the stock market is questionable and risky.  What better place to invest your money than in your own farm?

Now, let’s get back to my opening statement about trading bushels.  In an average year, by doing the 7 things I listed above, I would expect you’d gain from 6 to 25 bushels per acre.  If I had to guess, I’d say the average would be at least 10 bushels.  If you figure soybeans are worth $10.50 per bushel, you would “invest” 4 bushels to get back 6 to 25 bushels.  Worst case scenario, you should be gaining 1.5 bushels in exchange for 1.

The issue, in my opinion, is we often get caught up in how much things cost instead of what kind of return they can deliver.  I don’t care what the crop is.  It could be corn, wheat, canola, sugarbeets, cotton, rice, sunflowers, lentils, peas, or anything else.  There are good investments out there.  Certainly, there are bad investments, too.  That’s why we encourage you to work with a good agronomist and learn as much as you can about your crops and all your opportunities.  2012 will present many, many great opportunities for you.  Our hope is that you capitalize on some or most of those and have your most successful and profitable year ever.