Nate Bruce, Farm Business Management Specialist, nsbruce@udel.edu
There are very few production variables a producer has control over. The only variable that a producer truly has control over, and perhaps the most important, is the cost of production. With commodity prices continuing their downward trend, and recent regional production issues, producers around the area are going to be ramping up fungicide applications in the weeks to come. An article written by the University of Illinois explored fungicide usage for corn and soybeans and the bushels required to justify the expense at declining commodity prices.
Yield response from fungicide use can be highly variable. The economic study evaluated 212 corn studies and 240 soybean studies to determine yield responses for each crop after fungicide usage. The meta-analyses found corn yield responses were between 3.7 bushels per acre to 6.2 bushels per acre while soybeans had an average yield response of 1.6 bushels per acre. These average yield response numbers are below break-even at current crop prices. Below is a chart that shows the number of bushels required to cover a fungicide expense of $40.00 / acre (application and chemicals) and $25.00 / acre (chemicals only).
Source: University of Illinois, FarmDoc Daily
At a corn price of $4.25 per bushel, a yield response of 9.4 bushels per acre is required to cover the cost of chemicals and application. For just the cost of chemicals, a yield response of 5.9 bushels is needed to cover the cost of the expense. Soybeans are more giving, due to the higher price. A yield response of 3.6 bushels is required to justify the cost of chemicals and application while a response of 2.3 bushels is needed to cover the cost of chemicals only.
This article strictly looked at metadata to determine the breakeven bushels needed to cover a fungicide expense. There are quite a few variables that exist with determining yield responses of fungicides such as severity of fungal infection, precipitation, and variety that should be considered on your farm before deciding. Here is a link to the article:
https://farmdocdaily.illinois.edu/2024/05/fungicides-use-in-a-lower-price-environment.html