Profitability

“Across 26 on-farm Nebraska trials, foliar micronutrients rarely raised corn yield because soils were already sufficient — helping growers avoid unnecessary micronutrient spending.”

“A two-stage stochastic planning model for western Kansas irrigators under self-imposed 5-year pumping caps beat both actual farmer decisions (2013–2022) and average-rainfall deterministic planning, especially in dry years. Tighter pumping limits favor shifting from corn to sorghum and saving water in early years to spend later; stretching the allocation window past about 7 years adds little extra profit.”

“A model that simulates the processes of NH formation, speciation, aqueous-gas partitioning, and mass transfer was developed and incorporated in a whole farm simulation model (the Integrated Farm System Model).”

“In 13 years of the Rodale Farming Systems Trial, cutting tillage lowered gross revenues about 10-13% in conventional and low-input organic systems but also trimmed costs 5-6%, leaving net returns essentially unchanged (though with more year-to-year economic risk). The manure-based organic system with continuous living cover was least affected by reduced tillage and out-earned the conventional system even without organic price premiums.”