Corn vs Soybeans
First and foremost, I’m excited to announce that we have finally started planting soybeans! Soybean #Plant14 got underway on Memorial Day! We are definitely behind this year — normally everything is planted by June 1 — but the weather really held us back.
So, have you ever wondered how farmers decide which crops they’re going to plan in which fields? Perhaps you’ve never considered it? Or, you may have noticed that farmers who tend produce corn, also plant soybeans and those producing soybeans also tend to produce corn – why is that?
Of course, it isn’t just a coincidence! We “rotate” all of our fields between corn and soybeans. That means one year a field will have corn and the next year it will have soybeans.
Rotation of crops actually helps increase yields, because it gives back to the soil. Corn uses nitrogen, while soybeans take nitrogen from the air and fix it into the soil. (Ok, I’ll admit, it’s a little more complicated than that, but you get the point!) The rotation then allows us to take care of and replenish the soil in our fields.
Crop rotation also cuts down the risk of weed resistance to herbicides, including Round-Up, reduces the need for tillage (which I’ll explain when we start planting the soybeans), and actually increases corn yields for the following year! (Source: Corn and Soybean Digest.)
No joke – corn yields can be 13% – 19% higher when planted a year after soybeans.
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| 2013: Corn 2014: Soybeans |
Here’s proof of the fact that farmers don’t just farm in ways that maximize profits — it is generally the exception when soybeans are more profitable than corn. There would definitely be financial benefits to just planting corn year after year, no matter what the soil could handle. However, we don’t do that. When possible, we rotate corn and soybeans because this simple trick helps us be profitable and protect our soils.
Now, to be fair, it isn’t always possible for us to do this. We rent much of our farmland and some land owners prefer to have one crop over the other. And since they own the farm, they rule the roost. Of course, sometimes one crop will work better with a land owner’s overall scheme (especially if the land owner is farming other types of crops nearby). And, generally, a soybean field doesn’t make a very good maize in the fall.
But when we can rotate, we generally make the choice to do so. We are doing this in the field right here on our “home” farm. Land is legacy and we want to take care of it.
