Kitchen Sink Study

This week in crop talk a fellow posted the link the Minnesota United Soybean Board's Kitchen Sink Study results.  In another thread, Stockholm asked if I believed in that study?

"I have looked over it but not in depth. Maybe you can tell me more? I do respect the work of Palle Pedersen, PhD. Perhaps I take a different view or method of "high inputs?"


I don't see how they didn't get better results for one thing. That has not been my experience. The methods they used to test generates more income than the method costs for me, in general.

I guess my talk at NNTC supports the high inputs and would guide the listener that way. I would be happy to share it with you and send you the slides that I showed with the talk.

For one thing, they didn't test calcium, nitrate and sulfur in the way I see it being used on high yield farms. Another thing, soybean inoculant is a no--brainer every place I've seen it used, even beans after beans. It seems they validate the methods that are generating the typical 40 bu beans raised in America and what was last year's yield, 36? 70 bu was the high yield beans here last year and I saw 100 bu beans in the drought by using the high yield methods I talked about at NNTC.

A big thing is they don't study the effect of high yield beans on the next crop. I always have better corn, wheat and cover crops that lead to better crops after high yield beans. I have seen double inoculated soybeans vs typical inoculation vs no inoculation in and wheat planted after it yields in that order, highest on double inoculated beans as one example.

Maybe you are right, maybe the study is a waste compared to the way I raise soybeans or think they should be raised.

Soybeans are the number one gross and net producing crop for me the past nine years but my highest was 191 bu corn last year sold at $8.30. I left 60 bu on the table and should have been able to raise 250 bu corn but I made some mistakes and I know what they are. That farm produced 80 bu wheat and 52 bu double crop soybeans the year before, all about above the local or county average.

I don't want to produce lower yielding beans if the money I spend generates more than it costs."

What did I miss?  Have you read the study?  Maybe you can see more in it than I did.  Maybe I look at soybeans in a different realm than most researchers do.  I do know that Palle Pederesen has studied soybeans in Iowa as much as anyone but I don't think he has been to the farms I learn from.

Maybe we are on two different pages.

Ed