Fred and Josh Yoder got more than expected from the 1,600 acres of corn and soybeans they harvested on the home farm west of Columbus and another farm south of Plain City, Ohio.

“With everything we’ve been through, we should have had a devastating crop,” Fred says.

Essentially, the father-son-team had two planting seasons, one in mid-April, followed by about a month of rain, before they resumed in mid-May and finished May 23. And then the skies largely dried up for more than two months.

 “Yes, our yields were down from the record crops we had last year — corn about 18% to 20% less and beans about 16% — but cover crops and our precision planter with starter fertilizer helped us out,” Fred says.

Being a precision planter dealer, the duo bought an old planter last year and installed precision technology. “It’s basically a brand-new planter at about a third of the price of a new one,” Fred says.

It was their first year using starter fertilizer in 10 years. “We saw a difference,” he says. “Starter fertilizer in a really dry year absolutely pays for itself. With mapping and with variable-rate technology, we cut back on areas of high fertility and utilized those dollars where we needed more.”

Cover crops pay

Cover crops improved moisture retention and crop resilience, Fred says, leading to an average of 208 bushels per acre in corn and 56 bpa in soybeans.

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Farming together, Fred owns 800 acres, and Josh rents another 800 acres and bought an additional 87 acres last spring to add to the total. “Josh wasn’t as big of a believer in cover crops as me, but that’s changing as everywhere we had cover crops, both corn and soybeans, did better,” Fred says. “Cover crops work whether it’s wet or dry; it makes crops more resilient.”

They have expanded cover crops this year with nearly two-thirds of the ground planted with mainly cereal rye.

CORN HARVEST: Fred (right) and Josh Yoder credit cover crops with helping them achieve an average corn yield of 208 bushels per acre.

They used their ground rig to spray soybeans with fungicide, but instead of hiring an airplane to spray corn, they hired a drone operator.

“We hired some young folks with drones to get the job done at a discounted rate compared to an airplane, saving several dollars an acre,” Fred says. “They were spot on with accuracy, and we were very pleased.”

Beans were coming off at 6% to 7% moisture, idling harvest until it finally rained and moisture improved to around 13%.

“It’s hard to sit when it’s nice weather to harvest, but we were taking a bath losing bushels,” Fred says.

With corn at 16% or below, it all went straight to the bin or to the mill with no dockage, he explains. “We were an inch or two of rain away from phenomenal crops, but it never rained much later in the growing season. The beans were small, but they were good. We’re thankful for what we got.”

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Looking forward

The Yoders are looking into interseeding cover crops into corn right after pollination. “It's really tough to plant a cover crop after corn harvest because you just don't have adequate time for the cover crop to grow through,” Fred says. “We hope to find someone to do that for us this next year.”

The Yoders expect more belt-tightening in 2025. “Low commodity prices with high input costs are never a good combination,” Fred says.

They continue to manage their debt while keeping an eye on savings. “If you cut costs going in, that's every bit as good, or better, than another dollar of growth,” he says.

They are considering converting their sprayer to offer spray-by-sight technology, spraying only where weeds are detected. “You can save an enormous amount of chemicals, but it’s expensive and I’m not sure that’s in the plans for next year. We’re not committed to anything; the price must be right.”

The Yoders also have a seed business, which helps with another revenue stream. “We consider ourselves blessed this year because some of our friends around Circleville are absolutely devastated with yields cut in half or more,” Fred says. “They are in a tough spot, and I’m fully aware it could have been way worse for us. At least we had enough to harvest to attempt to farm another day.”

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