News

Some farmers considering cost cutting options heading into 2025

A regional sales agronomist with Stine Seed says many farmers are facing tough choices while finalizing plans for 2025.

Jake Anderson, who covers the northern third of Illinois, says the down ag economy has many growers looking for ways to save.

“If you’ve got really high fertility, I would hesitate to cut back on fertilizer for more than a year.”  He says, “That’s a slippery slope. That’s good insurance to have good fertile soils, and you don’t want to start mining your nutrients.”

Anderson also advises against cutting back on weed control programs, but he tells Brownfield altering soybean seed populations might be an option.

“You don’t need 160,000 seeds out there to get your crop.”  He says, “Even when we have tough springs and we see populations maybe end up around 80,000, we still pretty much have 100% of our yield.  Where if you stick around 140,000, that’s a lot of wiggle room there and that’s kind of where most guys are ending up.”

Anderson says farmers should discuss any potential management changes with their agronomist and seed representatives. 

Brownfield spoke with Anderson at the 2024 Greater Peoria Area Farm Show in Peoria, Illinois.

AUDIO: Jake Anderson – Stine Seed