Farmers facing tighter profit margins are working to be as efficient as possible as they head into the 2025 growing season.  AgriGold Agronomist Nick Frederking said soil test results can help them be more strategic with their input investments.

 

“Soil tests are extremely important because the soil makes up the foundation of our crop production.  It starts and ends with the soil, so it's really important that we get soil tests done and understand how to interpret them," Frederking said.  "The first thing I look at on a soil test would be the pH. When the pH is out of line, many of our macronutrients fail to be as available as they can be. One of the second places that I look at on a soil test is the CEC to understand the holding capacity of the soil. But make no mistake, there are so many metrics on the soil test. This is an important test to understand where we can succeed out in the field.”

 

Frederking said farmers will have the most success if they look at their soil test results as a whole, rather than piecing out the results.

 

“It's not individual nutrients that we're looking at. We need to take the test as a whole," he stressed.  "Many of these nutrients interact with each other. There are ratios that we keep in mind. We think about the law of the minimum crop production can only be as good as the limiting factor. And with so many metrics on a soil test, it's important to understand how we balance those things out. So again, understanding the soil test as a whole, sitting down with your local agronomist, it's a great opportunity this time of year to set yourself up for success out in the field in 2025.”

 

What are some common misses or shortfalls when it comes to soil fertility?

 

“One of the misses that we encounter on a soil test, and probably the most impactful, is that pH," Frederking said.  "When growers find that pH getting out of balance, we do limit severely the macronutrients important for crop production. One of the other misses that I find a lot on soil tests is actually potassium. We need a lot of potassium to grow a big crop, but we lose sight of that with the removal rates that are advertised for potassium. We know what the grain takes out, but we don't often give enough credit to what it takes to build the plant before we get the ear at the end of the season. So, the pH and potassium are two of the biggest things I check on soil tests because I feel like that's where we fall short.”

 

He offers some advice for farmers weighing cuts to inputs for the 2025 season.

 

“Trimming fertilizer costs are on a lot of growers’ minds in 2025. With that said, we certainly don't want to sacrifice yield. That's the end goal, to produce as many bushels as we can," Frederking said.  "But I understand the economic importance of finding ways to save dollars. If growers want to save dollars and trim fertilizer costs, there's a few things we've got to keep in mind. Removing the fertilizer but maintaining the same plant populations can be a plan for failure. You wouldn't want to give less groceries to the same number of people leaves a lot of hungry people. If you're going to trim fertilizer costs, think about backing that plant population off as well so we can maximize each individual plant out in the field.”

 

For support planning for the upcoming season, Frederking recommended growers reach out to their local AgriGold agronomist and visit AgriGold.com.

 

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