Corn might be considered ‘king’ in many commodity crop discussions, but it could be said that soybeans pay the bills. Case in point from the 2019 Kansas State University Farm Management Association cost return budgets: the return on 145 bushels per acre corn: ($2.35)/A. The return on 45 bushels per acre soybeans: $14.45/A. It’s not a lot of difference, but it’s the difference between profit and loss.

What if there were things we could tweak a little further to make that soybean crop even a little more profitable? That’s the focus of the of nine K-State Soybean Production Schools scheduled throughout the state in late January. Sponsored by the Kansas Soybean Commission, our Northeast Kansas event will be held on Wednesday afternoon/evening January 16th at the Northeast Kansas Heritage Complex south of Holton.

Registration will begin at 3:00 p.m. at the fairgrounds located at 12200 214th Rd. (two miles south of Holton on Highway 75 to 214th Rd. and one quarter mile west on the south side of the road.). The program will start at 3:30 with a rapid fire overview of all things soybeans from multiple K-State Research and Extension specialists. Grain marketing economist Dr. Dan O’Brien will share an overview of his observations of the soybean market. Dr. Doug Jardine, Extension Plant Pathologist, will give an update on diseases of importance to soybean producers, followed by a team presentation on agronomic factors that might be limiting soybean production from KSU Cropping Systems Specialist Dr. Ignacio Ciampitti and Northeast Area Extension Agronomist Dr. Stu Duncan.

Dr. Dorivar Ruiz-Diaz, KSU Soil Fertility Specialist will discuss soil fertility considerations important to soybean production, and we’ll wrap up the evening with everyone’s favorite soybean challenge: weed control. Dr. Dallas Peterson, K-State Research & Extension Weed Specialist will discuss weed control challenges – and solutions – during the supper session. We’ll wrap up the evening around seven with questions for the presenters.

Your evening meal is provided courtesy of the Kansas Soybean Commission. There is no cost to attend, but participants are asked to pre-register by January 9th to allow for meal arrangements. You can do so by contacting the Holton Office of the Meadowlark Extension District at (785) 364-4125 or via e-mail to David Hallauer at dhallaue@ksu.edu . Online registration is available at K-State Soybean Schools (http://bit.ly/KSUSoybean). Please contact us for questions or further details. Hope to see you there!