Press Release (for immediate release)
April 27, 2006
Soybean
Row Width Affects Profitability
Steve Metzger
, Farm Business Management Coordinator
Carrington
Research
Extension
Center
CARRINGTON
,
N.D.
- The
width between seeded rows can be an important factor in determining total
soybean profitability. Four years of
actual farm data furnished by participants in the Carrington Area Farm Business
Management program has provided a real insight into what the actual level of
profitability has been for the past 4 growing seasons.
The information was gathered from 58,297 cash rented acres of soybeans on 210
different fields and 98 farms that participated in the Carrington Area program.
Several of the same farms were included in the data base in each of the 4
years. Several of the farms also had
soybeans that were seeded in two different row widths during the four years of
data collection.
The two row widths examined
for a comparison of profitability were those that were less than 10 inches apart
and those that were from 10 to 18 inches apart in width.
The less than 10 inch row spacing was typically generated from a seeding
pattern that was 10 inches on center but spaced the seeds out from 2 to 3 inches
on each side of the 10 inch center, resulting in growing plants that were only 5
to 6 inches apart. Also included in
this narrower spaced group were those soybeans seeded by drills using a row
spacing of less than 10 inches on center and with no flaring or spreading of the
seed pattern.
Over the past 4 years, a total of 17,657 acres of the narrower seeded
acres were recorded while the 10 to 18 inch spacing was noted on 40,640 acres.
In 2002, the first full year of the study, 64% of the acres were seeded
in the narrower arrangement. In 2005
only about 9% of the acres were still being seeded in the narrow row width.
The average production
difference for the 4 years favored the 10 to 18 inch spacing by a full 4 bushels
per acre. While the average
difference in net profit varied each year, the 4 year average, including
government payments, was calculated to be $37.70 per acre.
The net difference for 2005 was calculated to be $21.93 per acre.
The greatest yield variation was in 2003, a drier year, when a per acre
yield difference of 10.4 bushels was noted.
The smallest yield difference was recorded at 3.2 bushels in 2005, a year
with very favorable growing conditions. The
final yield and profitability numbers for the 2005 soybean crop will be
available in late May but they are not expected to impact the preliminary 2005
numbers to any great degree.
In addition to the higher
yields, the producers with the wider row spacing also spent $4.85 less per acre
to achieve the higher yields. While
they did spend just under $10 less per acre in direct costs (seed, custom hire
and rent) they did spend an additional $5 per acre in overhead costs, mainly in
the areas of hired labor and equipment depreciation.
The price or value of the soybeans produced was just slightly higher for
the wider row width group at $5.79 per bushel as compared to the narrow row
width group at $5.57 per bushel. This
price difference did account for approximately $7.00 of the increased
profitability per acre for the wider row width group.
It should also be noted that in 2004 the two groups were similarly
affected by the August 8th frost but the wider rowed group averaged
just over $30 more per acre in crop insurance payments, lending further
credibility to the idea that the wider spaced rows had produced higher average
or proven yields for crop insurance purposes.
The collection of row width data on soybeans will continue through the
2006 production year, after which a 5 year summary will be issued.
Producers will find additional information on this and other crop and
livestock enterprises as well as a variety of other farm data at the
website ndfarmmanagement.com.
Additional information on the North Dakota Farm Business Management
Program may be secured by contacting Steve Zimmerman, State Supervisor for
Agricultural Education at the State Capitol, at 701-328-3162.
The Farm Business Management program is sponsored by the North Dakota
State Department of Career and Technical Education.
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