Input management key focus of ISA’s Innovation to Profit meeting

February 20, 2025 | Kriss Nelson

Iowa Soybean Association’s (ISA) Research Center for Farming Innovation (RCFI) shared 2024 trial results and 2025 growing season advice during their annual Innovation to Profit meeting held this week in Sheffield.

“I thought the event was great,” says Shane Beck, ISA research agronomist. “Many interesting questions from the audience focused on incorporating different inputs into their operations.”

Do all inputs increase profits?

Farmers must carefully consider all farm inputs, including nitrogen and fungicides, to maintain profitability and environmental responsibility.

Fungicide

Reflecting on RCFI’s fungicide trials in 2024, which were trying to determine if a fungicide application pays, results showed they did not.

“We started wet last spring, and we thought there would be disease pressure but it turned dry later in the season,” says Beck. “Overall, our trials in 2024 showed an average $32 acre loss across the different fungicide treatments.”

Beck noted soybean fungicides don’t provide plant health benefits as they potentially do with corn. In areas where they did not find disease pressure, fungicides only provided a half-bushel yield increase.

“If prices remain where they are and if farmers are looking to cut costs, fungicides might be a good place to start,” he says. “Especially if there are no significant rains in the forecast and no signs of early-season disease. There is a potential to save $32 an acre.”

Beck says RCFI will modify their fungicide trials in 2025 to include insecticides.

“We believe there could be a beneficial relationship between fungicides and insecticides; we just need the data to prove it,” he says.

The trial design will use four treatments replicated across strips: fungicide, insecticide, untreated, and a combination of fungicide and insecticide.

Nitrogen

ISA Senior Research Agronomist Alex Schaffer encouraged farmers to consider participating in the Iowa Nitrogen Initiative.

ISA provides technical assistance for the program, a private-public partnership with a vision to provide Iowans with the best nitrogen science in the world to benefit productivity, profitability and environmental performance.

“We are working toward making nitrogen prescription applications work well for the farmer, and the Iowa Soybean Association is here for support,” says Schaffer.

Schaffer also encouraged the farmer audience to consider using the N-Fact Tool.

The N-Fact Tool is a nitrogen fertilizer application consultation tool that leverages data from the Iowa Nitrogen Initiative on-farm nitrogen rate trials with cropping systems modeling. Users can see the optimum nitrogen rate under different scenarios by selecting a location, anticipated crop year weather, residual soil nitrogen, crop rotation, planting date and fertilizer, and crop pricing.

“I think it is a great tool. Especially if you put 40 to 60% of your nitrogen on in the fall and are following up with a side-dress application in the summer,” he says. “You can use the tool for information based on real-time data to make the most informed decision for on-farm profitability and environmental performance.”

Nitrification inhibitor trials

Schaffer explained that nitrates and soil are two negatively charged molecules, and trying to get them to stay in the soil can be compared to putting two ends of a magnet together – they won’t stick.

“Then the next rainfall, that nitrate is going to move through the soil and into the groundwater,” he says. “That is bad for water quality and on-farm profitability.”

Trials were conducted in Delaware County near Manchester on 100% fall-applied anhydrous using the nitrification inhibitor N-Serve. Fields involved in the trial included a corn-on-corn field, fertilized with 220 pounds of nitrogen, and a field of corn following soybeans with 160 pounds of nitrogen. Both fields were planted the week of April 20.

The untreated portion of the corn-on-corn plot averaged 236 bushels per acre, whereas the N-Serve portion yielded an average of 254 bushels per acre. The gross revenue difference using $4.60 a bushel corn was $83 per acre. Factoring in the cost of the inhibitor, at $20 an acre, brought a net revenue of $63 an acre greater return.

Corn following soybeans saw an average yield of 168 bushels per acre in untreated areas, compared to 196 bushels per acre where N-Serve was applied. At a corn price of $4.60/bushel, N-Serve generated a $130 per acre increase in gross revenue. After accounting for the $20 per acre N-serve cost, net revenue increased by $110 per acre.
The earnings show the equivalent of paying for N-Serve for five years.

“Consider a nitrification inhibitor, similar to a fungicide, as an annual insurance policy; its benefit may only be realized in a single year, but your earnings could have covered five years’ worth of that product’s cost in this instance,” says Schaffer.

Plan to attend the last two Innovation to Profit meetings

Two additional Innovation to Profit events are taking place next week in southeast and southwest Iowa.

Afton

From 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 25, the RCFI team will host an event in Afton at the Afton Community Center, 240 N. Douglas St. Click here to register.

The agenda for the event includes:

10:20 a.m. - Morning Sessions

Optimize Your Seeding Rate

Weighing seed purchases against yield potential is an important business consideration. The Research Center for Farming Innovation (RCFI) tests a range of seeding populations annually to evaluate their impact on soybean yield and return on investment under varying climate and soil conditions. These results provide valuable insights for improving seeding rate targets for maximum profitability. Mikaela Connelly, ISA research agronomist will lead the discussion.

Blended Cover Crop Approach for Soy and Corn

ISA is investigating the effects on nutrient sequestration, soil health, and crop performance through multi-species cover crop implementation and nitrogen inhibitors specific for either soy or corn. Initial results and discussion from the 2024 season. Alexander Litvin, Ph.D., ISA research agronomy lead, will commence the discussion.

11:30 a.m. - Selecting Blended Cover Crop Species

Further explore blended cover crop options with Saddle Butte Ag Cover Crop Seed’s TJ Kartes. Determine the factors to consider when selecting species for a blended cover crop program in soybean and corn production. Learn how different cover crops contribute to improved yield performance.

12 p.m. - Lunch

12:30 p.m. - Afternoon Sessions

Conservation Practice Economics

Breakdown of economic impacts of implementing conservation practices and potential opportunities to increase ROI with in-field conservation adoption. Joseph Wuebker, ISA conservation agronomist, will lead the discussion.

Conservation at the Field Edge, Simplifying Technical and Financial Assistance

RCFI assists farmers with implementing conservation practices on the edge of fields to provide wildlife habitat and improve water quality. A quick overview of practices and current funding sources to help get conservation on the farm while staying out of the field will be covered. Rob Davis, ISA watershed program manager, will lead the presentation.

1:30 p.m. - Farmer Panel

Hear first-hand from local farmers about their experiences and outcomes from various ISA research trials.

Washington

Meanwhile, the RCFI team will travel to southeast Iowa for the Innovation to Profit event from 10 a.m. to 2:30 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 27 at Dallmeyer Hall- Lower Level at the Washington County Fairgrounds, 611 Highway 1 South, Washington. Click here to register.

The agenda for that event includes:

10:30 a.m. - Relay Cropping: Environmental Outcomes and Managing Risk for Profit

ISA has researched on-farm relay cropping in recent years. Learn more about 2024 results from ISA’s monthly field monitoring, soil and water quality projects, as well as ways to manage a relay crop system to mitigate agronomic risk and maximize profit. Alex Schaffer, ISA senior research agronomist will be the presenter.

11 a.m. - Additional Revenue and Savings from Conservation Practices

Conservation practices can reduce input costs and generate revenue. Join ISA to discuss ideal conservation scenarios, cover crops, reduced tillage, soil health and organic matter. Matt Swanson, ISA conservation agronomist will lead the discussion.

11:40 a.m. - Lunch

12:30 p.m. - NIR Manure Sensor Based Application

Exploration of manure application based on real-time fertility content, focusing on enabling more precise nutrient management. A conversation on the potential to reduce synthetic fertilizer inputs, increase crop yields and enhance water quality. Lucas De Bruin, ISA research agronomist will lead the discussion.

1 p.m. - Local Farmer Panel Examine their Experiences with ISA Research

Hear first-hand from local farmers about their experiences and outcomes from various ISA research trials.

1:45 p.m. - Benefits of Edge-of-Field Practices to Farmers

Managing the edge of your field can provide many benefits to your farm without sacrificing tillable land. The different edge-of-field practices, their value, and new opportunities in your area will be discussed along with potential funding and technical assistance options to implement these practices. Brandon Iddings, ISA senior conservation services manager, will address audience topics.

For those interested, there are 2.0 hours of Certified Crop Adviser (CCA) credits available for attending any of the Innovation to Profit events.

For additional information or questions, contact Paige Whitney at pwhitney@iasoybeans.com

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