More net income. More bushels in the bin. Higher government payments. Lower insurance costs (or higher yield guarantees). More stuff you can brag about. There are a lot of reasons to inoculate your soybeans, especially with the newer, more efficient inoculants on the market today.

Now, I know what you’re going to say…I inoculated my soybean seed the first time I ever planted soybeans, and I’ve been on a corn-soybean rotation ever since, so my Bradyrhizobium levels should be high enough, right? Not necessarily!! The ability of Bradyrhizobium japonicum bacteria (the bacteria that creates the nitrogen-fixing nodules on the roots of soybeans) to survive in the soil from year to year can be influenced by soil type, less than favorable weather conditions, and native bacteria.

Soils that are high in pH, low in pH, high in salt, temporarily flooded, extremely dry for an extended period of time, or compacted can cause bacteria levels to drop to a point where they are far below the number you need to get great yields. Also, the newer and more efficient strains of inoculant bacteria are great at increasing yield, but not very good at surviving the winter or fighting off the natural strains of bacteria in your soil.

My point with all this is that if you want the BEST strains of inoculant helping your soybean crop every year, use one of the newer inoculants on the market and use it EVERY SINGLE TIME you plant soybeans. These new strains are so much better than the inoculants we had even 10 or 15 years ago, that year-in and year-out, you should be able to achieve at least a 200 to 1000% APR return on your money. That’s a little more than you’ll get letting your money sit in the bank.

Testing on our farm near Baltic, SD, showed an average yield increase in 2004 of 4.4 bushels per acre. If you figure the cost of inoculating at $2.00/acre and the soybean price at $5.00/bushel, that’s an increase in net profitability per acre of $20.00!! Not only had this 150-acre test plot had soybeans every other year for decades, it also had manure applied 2 years ago. In other words, if inoculant can pay here, it should pay just about anywhere. Similar information is coming out all over the country.

If you’re not happy with your soybean yields or profitability, try inoculating this year. There’s a big upside for such a small expense!