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Down in the Weeds: Yield data from TAPS competitions shows big differences in seed costs and ROI.

Tyler Harris, Editor

October 23, 2020

2 Min Read
Corn field and stormy sky
PROFIT MAKER: Matt Stockton found that if all participants made the same agronomic decisions, there would be a difference of up to $173.58 per acre in overall return on investment just from using different hybrids. Tyler Harris

Editor's note: You can listen to my conversation with Matt Stockton by clicking on the Soundcloud link in this blog.

Matt Stockton, ag economist at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's West Central Research and Extension Center, says buying the wrong seed could cost more than you think.

Using numbers from the 2018 Testing Ag Performance Solutions farm management competition, Stockton notes there was a difference of up to $173.58 per acre in return on investment between different participants, just from using a different hybrid.

"This [TAPS] program is an opportunity for producers to do different things, make different decisions and compete against each other for profitability, not just yield," Stockton says. "I've taken the information from all of these contests, and I was doing some work with seed variety and looking at all the things producers do, and we've been able to find out that seed variety selection makes a big difference in your profitability. That really shocked me, because I didn't expect that to be the case. I figured seed is seed."

Learn more by listening to the latest episode of Down in the Weeds.

Nebraska Farmer · How much ROI can the right hybrid bring?

 

About the Author(s)

Tyler Harris

Editor, Wallaces Farmer

Tyler Harris is the editor for Wallaces Farmer. He started at Farm Progress as a field editor, covering Missouri, Kansas and Iowa. Before joining Farm Progress, Tyler got his feet wet covering agriculture and rural issues while attending the University of Iowa, taking any chance he could to get outside the city limits and get on to the farm. This included working for Kalona News, south of Iowa City in the town of Kalona, followed by an internship at Wallaces Farmer in Des Moines after graduation.

Coming from a farm family in southwest Iowa, Tyler is largely interested in how issues impact people at the producer level. True to the reason he started reporting, he loves getting out of town and meeting with producers on the farm, which also gives him a firsthand look at how agriculture and urban interact.

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