The biggest challenge we face on our farm each year is profitability. It seems like our yields over the last few years haven't gotten much better, yet our costs continue to steadily increase. If these are issues you face on your farm, too, then this video is for you.

Today we'll talk about 12 steps you can take on your farm this year to not only improve your yields, but also increase your profitability. We'll talk specifically about soybeans, but the concepts apply to corn and other crops, too.

I'm sure many of you have heard of the late Herman Warsaw. He was the first farmer to commercially raise 300 bushel corn many years ago. Herman once said that before you put the planter in the ground each spring, you must have an end in mind. In other words, it is important to have a goal. Herman's goal was 300 bushel corn, which meant that he must raise approximately 26 million kernels per acre. That was his end in mind. What's yours?

Well, before we begin down our 12-step road, one quote that I'd like to share sums up one of the main objectives of this video. Ray Rawson, the Michigan farmer who has raised soybeans that yielded over 100 bushels per acre, says "farm vertically, not horizontally." While most farmers are able to only take advantage of the first few inches of soil in their fields, Rawson commonly has soybeans nodulating at depths of 3 feet or more.

After hearing and seeing the Ray Rawson story and the Francis Childs story, and the successes of many other great farmers across the country, we have compiled these 12 steps that should add 5 to 10 bushels on to your soybean crop in year one, and hopefully more as time goes on.

We start our program in the fall. Step one is to soil test. Step two is to zone build, and Step three is to apply soil amendments, if necessary. All 3 steps should be done in the fall for the maximum benefit.

The first step when trying to increase the productivity on any farm is to find out what the soil's capacity is, and what changes need to be made in order to turn a poor or an average field into a great one. The only way to accomplish those goals is to pull good soil samples. Here, it is important to sample different soil types separately, to pull several cores per sample, and to try to not blend big areas all together. Our suggestion is to run with 2 to 4 acre grids that are adjusted based on soil types.

Once you get your soil samples back, you'll want to look first at the pH in each test. This will be your basis for adding soil amendments later in the fall. Next, check out your base saturation. There are 5 things in a base saturation test. The good nutrients in base saturation are calcium and potassium. These numbers should be high, relatively speaking. The bad nutrients in base saturation are hydrogen, magnesium, and sodium. If these nutrients are found in excess, your yield potential is being dramatically limited, so again, you may need some soil amendments later in the fall.

After evaluating, pH and base saturation, be sure to check out your cation exchange capacity. This is a measurement of the amount of organic matter in your soil, as well as the type of clay and amount of clay. Cation exchange capacity basically gives you an idea of the top-end yield potential on your farm. Finally, the last things to look at on a soil test are actually the things that many people mistakenly check out first, N, P, K, secondary and micronutrients.

Why do we say that these things should be looked at last? Well, if your soil's pH and base saturation are out of whack, when you add fertilizer, your soil might make that fertilizer unavailable to your plants almost immediately. Also, if your cation exchange capacity is bad, maybe you just can't raise much more than what you have been in your soil. However, if your cation exchange capacity is great, maybe you have the potential for 90 bushel soybeans and 300 bushel corn. All the answers are right there on your soil tests.

Well, we've spent a lot of time talking about soil testing, because that's the most important step in this entire process. Without good soil sampling, you won't know how best to spend your money in order to improve your yields and your bottomline.

Next, we move into zone building. On most farms, there are actually 2 compaction layers in the soil. Now, I know what some of you may be thinking. "Compaction isn't a serious issue on MY farm." We'd have to go out to your fields to know for sure, but when I scout fields every day and find at least some degree of compaction on 99 percent of them, chances are you've got compaction that needs to be dealt with. Back to those two layers of compaction, one of them is man-made at 6 to 10 inches deep. The other is a natural compaction layer found commonly at 14 to 20 inches. While the top compaction layer has been caused by tillage or traffic in a field, the lower layer is usually a result of natural soil factors.

The purpose in zone building is to break through BOTH compaction layers, to allow plant roots to tap into the water and nutrients available deep in the soil. Again, to quote Ray Rawson, farm vertically, not horizontally. Even in severe drought years, it is common to find some moisture below the first compaction layer in a soil, and to find a great deal of moisture below the bottom compaction layer.

When zone building, it is our suggestion to follow the example of Ray Rawson, who zone builds his soil the first 2 years he has a particular piece of ground, and then through traffic management in the field, only zone builds a few end rows from time to time after that point.

Rawson's zone builder has straight shanks set at 30". In year one, he zone builds in between last year's rows and then plants right over the top of those zones in the spring. In year two, he zone builds in between the slots he had put in the year before and then plants over THOSE zones the following spring, so when he's done, he has zones every 15" across the field, and he rotates back and forth from one zone set to the next each year.

When I was on Rawson's farm, I was in one field where he last zone built 26 years ago. What I saw was almost unbelievable. In the root pit I was in, you could see the zones that he had put in and maintained for almost 30 years, and those zones were noticeably blacker and more porous than the rest of the soil. I also found nodules on his soybean plants in several fields down to a depth of 43". 43 inches! On most farms, you won't find nodules much deeper than 6 to 10 inches. The reason his plant's roots were dropping way down into the ground was because oxygen was available and compaction was not an issue in the zones he has built.

One commonly asked question is "why do you want straight shanks? Wouldn't it be good enough to use a regular deep ripper?" To give you the answer that Rawson has given us, you want to build soil, not rip it up. What happens with a ripper is that you typically move your top compaction layer down from say 6 to 8 inches down to 12 to 14". When you lift ALL the soil in your profile it simply settles back down and compaction is eventually formed again. Worse yet is the condition your field is in the next spring. It's soft and fluffy on top and you often end up sinking out of sight with your sprayer or your planter. When zone building, the idea is to use a straight shank that opens a slot for roots to go down and leaves the soil structure in place for your equipment to run on early in the spring. If these zones are properly managed, oxygen will be driven deeper in the profile, and so will your roots.

Another commonly asked question is "if Rawson's farming techniques are so great, why aren't all his neighbors doing it?" Actually, several of his neighbors are now using Rawson's methods and having great success. However, many of his neighbors are still using their same old practices and achieving only the county average for soybeans in that area, which is 32 bushels. Rawson on the other hand, averages nearly three times the county average at 80 to 90 bushels per acre.

If you want to improve the yields on your farm, these first 2 steps, soil sampling and zone building are where you should start. The next step is to use soil amendments, such as lime and gypsum to adjust pH and base saturation levels. As we said earlier, this step is certainly more important to improving yield than even evaluating nutrients like N, P, and K. Without a good balanced pH and base saturation, you can never improve your yields significantly.

Yes, soil amendments are generally your best dollar spent each year, but don't forget this is a total system. There are no silver bullets here, so be sure to follow steps 1 through 3 in the fall. They were, soil test, zone build, and use soil amendments if necessary. Moving into the winter, since fieldwork can't be done, it is important to work on other things. Step 4 is to evaluate and purchase your seed varieties. Step 5 is to plan your herbicide program and purchase your herbicides, while Step 6 is to make fertility decisions and purchase fertilizer.

Note that in each case, we suggest not only evaluating your input purchases, but also to buy. This will save you money each year, as the best deals on seed, crop protection products, and fertilizers is always in the winter or earlier. Just be sure to pick a good dealer who can switch products out for you in the spring if Mother Nature disrupts your plans.

While we won't spend any more time on Steps 4 through 6, one interesting note that I learned from Ray Rawson has to do with picking soybean varieties. One of the biggest factors he uses when evaluating new soybean lines is leaf size. He feels that by picking beans with the biggest leaves, he'll capture more sunlight, have more surface area to stick his foliar fertilizers, and in the end he'll have better yields. Also, keep in mind that Rawson farms in north central Michigan, often raising Group 0 soybeans.

Now let's turn to the spring and steps 7 through 9. Step 7 is to plant. Step 8 is burndown, and Step 9 is to apply a post-emerge herbicide. Again, we won't spend much time here, but we will point out a couple of highlights.

First, for years Rawson has put nearly all his nutrients on with his planter. If you look at the equipment on his planter, what Rawson does is applies fertilizer with a 3 coulter system. He runs one coulter directly in front of his rows approximately 4 inches below where the seed will be placed. This coulter applies approximately 30 to 50 pounds of nitrogen. Then, he has coulters on each side of the row. These coulters are running at a slight angle, and they place the phosphorus, potassium, and other nutrients as called for in the soil test. Interestingly, as opposed to Francis Child's system that calls for high fertilizer rates in a broadcast program, Ray uses about one third of the rates that his soil tests call for. By placing the fertilizer in a small concentrated band, the parts per million of fertilizer available in the root zone are much higher than in a broadcast system even though he's using less pounds of fertilizer per acre.

Both Steps 8 & 9 call for herbicide application. Step 8, the burndown, can be done either prior to planting or after planting, although most farmers prefer the latter. Also, the burndown can contain a residual herbicide if you desire. In Step 9, the post-emerge herbicide application, be sure to use a product that is relatively safe to your crop, yet will control the target weed population. Also in step 9, a foliar fertility product can be added in some cases. However, be sure to use the right product, as many foliar fertilizers can dramatically lessen the effectiveness of herbicides like Roundup.

Finally, we get to summer and Steps 10 through 12. Step 10 is scout your fields. Step 11 is foliar feed twice during the summer, and Step 12 is to spray for insects if necessary.

In step 10 we recommend scouting your fields. It is important to look for insects, weeds, diseases, and problem areas in your fields. Then, get good advice on how to manage those concerns. In order to properly time Steps 11 and 12, you definitely need to look at your fields as the summer progresses.

In step 11, foliar feeding should be done twice. R1 and R5 are the stages that Ray Rawson looks for when foliar feeding on his farm. R1 is beginning flower, and R5 is beginning pod fill. Also, when you foliar feed, be cautious of the fertilizer you use, as many fertilizers will injure your crop more than they will help it.

BOur last step, step 12, can actually be combined with step 11 in most cases. If it is necessary for you to spray for insects like bean leaf beetles, soybean aphids, grasshoppers, or others, you can generally combine your insecticide with your foliar fertilizer. Our recommendation here is to pick an insecticide that is relatively safe to humans, yet controls the bugs you're after.

In review, steps 1 through 3 should be done in the fall. They are soil test, zone build, and use soil amendments if necessary.

Steps 4 through 6 should be done in the winter or earlier. They involve evaluating and purchasing your seed, your herbicides, and your fertilizer.

Turning to spring, steps 7 through 9 are as follows: plant, spray a burndown weed-killer, and spray post-emerge for weeds.

Finally, in the summertime follow steps 10 through 12. They are scout your fields, foliar feed twice, and apply an insecticide if necessary.

We can summarize everything we've talked about here by saying that if you want to increase your yields and your profitability, you need to reduce compaction and increase oxygen in your soil, balance your pH, base saturation, and fertility, and protect your crop from stresses like weeds and insects. It's that simple.

I'll never forget one thing that Francis Childs, the world record corn grower, said at a meeting I was at once. He said that you can't expect to improve your yields or profitability if you continue to do things the way you're doing them now. You have to be willing to change.

However, willingness to change isn't everything, you also need to know what to change and how to change it, and that's where education comes in. One thing we would strongly encourage you to do is to take a substantial amount of time each year to learn more. There are a variety of great field days and Winter Workshops put on by Ag PhD and other respected agronomists in the industry. Also, it may be helpful for you to visit Ray Rawson's farm or Francis Child's farm when they host their field events each summer.

Well in conclusion, by following the 12 steps laid out here, you can increase your soybean yields by 5 to 10 bushels in year one, and hopefully more as time goes on, but the question is are you willing to change?