A note for 2016 - I only included soybean information because we did not grow any conventional/nonGMO corn so I have no side by side comparison of GM to nonGM corn for 2016. All of the corn we grew in 2016 was "RIB" - refuge in bag meaning a certain percentage of the seeds in the bag were nontraited/nonGMO seeds to serve as an insect resistance management program. Why did we give up conventional/nonGMO? Because there was no yield advantage and no premium associated with growing it. It didn't perform as well and as with any business owner looking at the bottom line, there was no economic or agronomic reason to continue.
Soybeans (dryland)
|
1998
|
2000
|
2005
|
2010
(slight
drought)
|
2012
(drought)
|
2013
|
2015
|
2016
|
Biotech Acreage
|
195
|
322
|
416
|
270
|
527
|
200
|
400
|
611
|
Yield BPA
|
54.2
|
50.3
|
53.5
|
46
|
43
|
48
|
45
|
62
|
Conventional Acreage
|
156
|
184
|
213
|
306
|
675
|
175
|
200
|
182
|
Yield BPA
|
48.2
|
43.2
|
46.3
|
36
|
36
|
25
|
34
|
42
|
Yield Difference
|
6
|
7.1
|
7.2
|
10
|
7
|
23
|
11
|
20
|
(BPA = bushels per acre)
2016 Soybean Production
Cost Per Acre
|
Non-GMO
for Food
|
GMO/RR
for Feed
|
GMO/RR/High Oleic
for Feed
|
Seed
|
$39
|
$47
|
$49
|
Fertilizer
|
$20
|
$20
|
$20
|
Herbicide
|
$40
|
$18.50
|
$18.50
|
Crop Insurance
|
$37
|
$37
|
$37
|
Fertilizer application
|
$6
|
$6
|
$6
|
Planting
|
$15
|
$15
|
$15
|
Pesticide application
|
$18
|
$12
|
$12
|
Harvest
|
$28
|
$28
|
$28
|
Hauling
|
$9
|
$9
|
$4
|
Land Rent
|
$150
|
$150
|
$150
|
Total Cost of Inputs
|
$362
|
$342.50
|
$339.50
|
Bushels/Ac (BPA)
|
42 BPA
|
53 BPA
|
62 BPA
|
Price/Bushel
|
$11.13
|
$9.13
|
$9.63
|
Gross Income
|
$467.50
|
$483.9
|
$597.05
|
Net Income Difference
|
$105.5
|
$141.4
|
$257.55
|
So what's our conclusion from the 2016 data?
1. GMO continues to outyield nonGMO in the 18 cropping years that we have grown it.
2. The $2/bushel premium for nonGMO soybeans does not offset the yield loss for either GMO with or without a premium. Let me explain. Here on the Delmarva, we can grow high oleic (HO) soybeans and receive a 50 cent premium per bushel over commodity price. These HO beans are segregated and kept pure to their genetics just like the nonGMO are segregated and kept pure to their (lack of) traits. Compared to regular Roundup Ready soybeans, the HO beans which are also Roundup ready have consistently been a higher yielding bean for us having grown them now for 4 years. The chart above shows that our tofu beans continue to be our lowest yielding, least profitable soybean despite the fact that there is a significant premium attached to growing it. RoundUp Ready beans while traited/GMO, do not perform as well as the high oleic soybeans. For us, a 9 bushel per acre difference.
3. For 2017, the majority of our acres will be high oleic soybeans. There is a huge demand and not enough acres in production for our region. The closest grain elevator to our farm is dedicated to HO beans so our trucking costs are significantly lower. We don't have to use our own storage bins so HO beans fit really well into our farming business plan. We will continue to grow tofu beans as part of a diversification effort as members of a farmers cooperative for the market opportunity to meet the limited customer demand for local tofu on the East Coast. Keep in mind that a lot of tofu can be made from a small number of bushels of soybeans so this is not a huge market. We sell tofu beans by the pallet, not by the truck load.
4. There is no "one" way of making decisions on a farm and what works for us may not work well for others. Much depends on how much risk someone is willing to take, how much debt they are in already, what makes sense for the number of tractors and people they have to get the various jobs done, and so many other decisions that impact whether a farm is profitable or not. I do know one thing, no child is going to come back to a farm that is deep in the red and so our choices today effect the ability for the next generation to decide to return or not. Nothing is straight forward, nothing is black or white, and there is no cookie cutter method for farming across the country.
Please remember that not all farmers have the same premiums available to them, or the same market access so this data again, only applies to us and to this region.
If you need to backtrack to my previous blogs on our cost of production here are links to the original post : 2014 GMO/NonGMO Comparison
2015 Update GMO/NonGMO comparison
If you need to backtrack to my previous blogs on our cost of production here are links to the original post : 2014 GMO/NonGMO Comparison
2015 Update GMO/NonGMO comparison
For more information on high oleic soybeans, see my next blog.
