In the August issue of Corn & Soybean Digest we featured a special 32-page editorial section called “Extreme Beans: New High-Yield Research.” It showcased a three-year, six-state soy checkoff-funded program that put a kitchen sink of inputs to the profit test, as well as cost effectiveness of various seeding rates.

Now you can access that valuable research information, plus two calculators to help you determine which inputs get you the most bang for your buck and which seeding rates are optimal for your highest return.

“In today’s farm climate, maximizing returns is all about optimizing inputs,” says Seth Naeve, lead investigator for the project and University of Minnesota Extension soybean agronomist.  “Farmers are bombarded with industry information regarding products and rates, but they need better, quicker, and more efficient access to results of independent/ third party research. The Extreme Bean’s app is a step in the right direction.”

The Extreme Beans app, available on iTunes or the Android Market, offers all of the research information in the print piece, now accessible with the touch of a button. Read all the articles, meet the researchers and understand the importance of education and research.

The utility of the app lies in the two calculators. One calculates optimal seeding rate. You choose region, cost per 140,000 seeds and the price you pay per bushel sold. The calculator offers the seeding rate for max return, 99% return and 95% return.

The other calculator in the app offers input breakeven costs. In this calculator, you input the average price of your soybean sales per bushel, then estimate costs of seed, nutrients, seed treatments, inoculant, fungicide, fertilizer, insecticide and other products. The results calculate the bushels required to pay for the extra inputs used.

Extras in the app include videos about the calculators, research and education, as well as graphs to support the research.

Access the app for iPhone.

Access the app for Android.