Do Fungicides Pay on Soybeans?

Notice: Using Internet Explorer may cause some issues with loading dynamic content such as Cash Bids. Please use a modern browser such as Edge, Firefox, or Chrome.

Dynamic Weather Icon for Today's Forecast
Weather N/A

Do Fungicides Pay on Soybeans?

11/16/2020
Do Fungicides Pay on Soybeans?

We all know why to use foliar fungicides on soybeans but do we still question if they pay? Besides the plant health advantages, it all goes back to producing more grain profitably to pays the bills. Parker Ludeking, Certified Crops Specialist at Mapleton, had just this conversation with a grower this past season. Pondering if applying a fungicide at R3 would be a profitable venture, Parker recommended turning this idea into a MiField applied on farm research trial by executing multiple strips across some soybean acres in search of solid data to support Fungicide use. Taking two premium fungicides on the market today and leaving an untreated check, Parker drafted a plan and then executed multiple strips with each product with his custom applicator at R3 timing. 

As you can see from the field health images, there definitely was a visual difference is plant health but would this hold true to when the combine came? After yield checking every strip, there was just shy of a 10 bu advantage with the fungicide strips versus the untreated check. Seeing this on one strip in one field is something but seeing these results across eight replications? I think this can put the question of a positive return with Fungicide to rest.

The first image below is the yield map of the replicated trial. The second image is the field health image taken Aug. 26th showing the stressed/untreated areas as lighter yellow. These same areas correlate to the yield map representing lower yields than the treated Fungicide strips.

Soybean 1.png

Soybean 2.png

Yes, every field, management, and growing season is different, no doubt. This idea of managing your crop to achieve positive ROI is always the ultimate goal. Fungicides help the crop reduce disease pressure and help protect yield. With these overall health benefits, usually we see longer green leaf retention, increased water efficiency, and increased stress tolerance during flowering and pod fill times. With every season being different we can see different results, but more times than not, these trends hold true to having a positive return.

If you would like to learn more on this trial or potentially have interest in trying this on your operation, please contact your local Insight FS Crop Specialist.

We have revised our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

Please read both of these documents as the changes affect your legal rights. By continuing you agree to these updates.

We have revised our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

Please read both of these documents as the changes affect your legal rights. By continuing you agree to these updates.