I can tell you from my experience that dropping the inoculant is probably not a good thing.

I can't imagine Missouri or Ohio having enough soil nitrogen at emergence to fully sustain a soybean plant.

I could be wrong on that as I have been wrong before.

Every inoculant study I've had done or studied shows that inoculant pays about 300% ROI.  As a farmer, I cannot let that little bit of money slip past me.

Our smart friends say differently but I disagree on that point.

I try to keep my soil at 25 ppm N and that should be enough.   But, every time I've inoculated, I see the difference.  If I work real hard, I can see it in yield.  The combine does not notice a bushel or two difference so I have to work hard to find it.  Every time I did, it was there, Brad.  This might be one of the best things the Hefty Bros expose though they can be perceived as selling inoculant.

The inoculant I add to my seed is not in my soil, that I know.  They compete for a place to live with the rhizobium in the soil and that makes my soybean plants produce more N.

I think our friend is totally wrong on this point and I have not been ashamed to disclaim it.

Grandpa learned the value, passed it on to dad and my stubborn teenage ways made me really seek it out.

Inoculation pays.

Would Bill Wilson not inoculate alfalfa seed?  Of course not, and that is a perennial crop, not an annual crop like soybeans.  Soybeans need it just as much as alfalfa does.

My opinion.

Ed Winkle

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