Reducing Unnecessary Input Costs for Soybean Farmers

Challenges

• Mississippi soybean producers typically plant more than 2 million acres annually. Extension faculty estimate that half of these acres receive an “automatic” foliar fungicide application where an additional insecticide is added to the tank because they are making a trip across the field.
• The additional insecticide is often not needed because insect pests at this time are well below economic thresholds. This unnecessary application kills beneficial insects, often causing a “flare” of other insect pests on about 25% of the acres, requiring an additional application.
• Unnecessary chemical applications are not beneficial to the environment.
• Unnecessary chemical applications decrease producer profits and diminish farm sustainability.

Extension Response

Extension faculty and professional staff address this practice to achieve the goals of increasing farm sustainability and decreasing potentially negative effects on the environment.

• Extension faculty and professional staff develop and deliver targeted educational programs and technical assistance activities to assist soybean producers and crop consultants.
• Many of these programs directly address the fungal and insect risks associated with soybean production relative to growth stages when fungicides are generally applied.
• Research demonstrations, educational programs, publications, and one-on-one technical assistance are part of Extension’s comprehensive approach to assist producers.
• Extension provides research-based information on proper scouting and detailed explanations of the cost savings and unnecessary environmental impacts from convenience sprays.

Economic Impacts

• It is estimated that 15% of affected acres did not receive this co-application due to educational programming. As a result, producers could realize an estimated savings of $8 million statewide.
• This increase in savings (also defined as an increase in farm income) could support an estimated additional 47 jobs, earning $2.1 million, in the Mississippi economy.
• This savings to producers could also increase value-added in the state by $4.3 million and output by $7.5 million.
• Local taxes could increase as a result by an estimated $32,318 for municipalities, $80,401 for local special districts (e.g., school districts), and $65,278 for county governments.
• State taxes could increase by an estimated $354,762 and federal taxes by an estimated $505,551.
• Increases in tax revenues are based solely on increased output by producers. This analysis assumes no increase in tax rates or change in the current tax structure.

M2480-01 (10-25)

Whitney Crow, PhD, Associate Professor, Agricultural Science and Plant Protection