Beck’s Agronomist: ‘Stick to the Plan for Now’ for 2022 Amid Supply Chain Worries

In our final Beck’s Yield Check of the season, Beck’s agronomist Travis Burnett says farmers in northern Indiana are largely pleased with their corn yield this season. Soybean yield has been hit or miss depending on where rain fell and where it didn’t during grain fill.

As we get close to wrapping up the 2021 season, Burnett is looking ahead to 2022’s crop. Supply chain issues have farmers worried about product availability for next year. Burnett encourages them to stick to the plan for now.

“The two biggest ones I’m hearing about right now that guys are most concerned about is the availability of Liberty and Roundup. I know that’s got a lot of guys trying to figure out what to do from a soybean side of things on what trait technology or what platform they want to use or things of that nature. So, still a lot of time between now and next year when we’re going to be needing those chemicals, so let’s stick with the platforms that we like and that we’re comfortable with, the genetics that we like, and see what happens. We’ve got options in all the platforms out there for other forms of weed control. Let’s just not get too hung up or too worried about that just yet. We’ve got time to see what shakes out.”

With fertilizer prices skyrocketing, a lot of talk has been made of farmers switching acres to beans since it’ll be more affordable.

“On the flipside of that, I’ve also talked to some other guys that have forward contracted fertilizer, so guys that took some summer delivery of 28 that are actually looking at planting more corn for next year right now, maybe taking advantage of that opportunity. So, I don’t see a bunch of acre switching from corn to beans. I think there may be individual guys that do some switching or messing around here going into next year, but I think overall, if you look at the big picture, it’ll be enough guys making up for it with heavier corn acres that it’s not going to have a huge impact on corn/bean rotation here in Indiana anyway.”

This Yield Check has been presented by Beck’s. They’re dedicated to serving a community of farmers who love what they do and are proud to be farmers at heart. Learn more at beckshybrids.com.