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That’s
the goal I heard this winter, but it wasn’t from
a farmer. It was from a banker in North Dakota. He
was telling all his customers to really push the management
of their soybeans this year because he believed they
could make another $100 net profi t per acre in their
soybeans by shooting for another 8 bushels. Needless
to say, that banker and I hit it off, because that’s
the same thing we’re shooting for on our farm.
2008 is a year of great opportunities for you. There
are
always great investments out there, but none are better
than the ones you have on your own farm right now.
In soybeans, here’s a rundown of some great no-brainers:
| 1.
Use a PRE like Valor or Domain to get 3
to 7 bushels per acre more (5 year, 5 university
average) than 2 shots of Roundup alone. The
cool thing here is that Valor and Domain are
less expensive than Roundup today. |
| 2.
Micronutrients – Take care of the most
neglected part of your fertility program. We
use TJ Micromix at 1.5 quarts per acre in soybeans. |
| 3.
Inoculant – Use inoculant every time
you plant soybeans. Even gaining 0.25 bushels
per acre will provide a great return on investment
this year. |
| 4.
Insecticide – Stop insects like bean
leaf beetles and soybean aphids from robbing
your yields. Your investment here runs from
$2 to $6 per acre, and the returns are great! |
| 5.
QuickRoots – Apply liquid or the new
dry planterbox QuickRoots to your seed. On average,
we’re seeing better nutrient uptake and
3 bushels more beans. |
Brian
may get mad at me for letting this out, but here are
two other things we’re doing on our farm that
you may not have tried before. I feel very confident
recommending these things for you, as well.
1.
Fungicide – We got 17 bushels more
yield from a half rate of fungicide at R2 (full
bloom stage) last year on an 80 acre fi eld.
The whole farm had averaged around 2 bushels
gained using fungicide the last 3 years until
we hit that 17 bushel gainer. A half rate of
fungicide is less than a $6 investment. Two
bushels gained is a 600% APR return on investment
at today’s soybean
price. |
2.
Plant Growth Regulators – We’ve
been using plant growth regulators like MegaGro
on our farm for 3 years. We’ve seen better
yields. Plus, MegaGro is also patent pending
as a CROP SAFENER FOR ROUNDUP. Specialty crop
farmers have been using plant growth regulators
for years. The investment is only $4/ acre,
and you can literally see the return on your
investment
with your eyes in the fi eld in many cases. |
Don’t let your soybeans be second best on your
farm this year. It’s never been easier to shoot
for another $100 per acre net profit. Go for it!
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