WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Farmers are seeing lower prices and higher break-even prices, meaning they need to look for ways to trim costs without impacting yield, according to a Purdue University professor of agricultural economics.

The real challenge today is prices are relatively low, Michael Langemeier said, but they’re not as low as they were back in 2014-19. There is a difference between then and now, he added.

“Our break-evens are so much higher and so it’s even more challenging today from a corn and soybean standpoint than it was anytime from 2014-19 because we have this large gap between break-evens and the corn price. Costs went up right after COVID and they came down a little bit, but not enough.”

Langemeier and two of his Purdue colleagues spoke on strategies to reduce cost per bushel for the upcoming growing season during the Jan. 9 Purdue Top Farmer Conference in West Lafayette.

In November, respondents to the Purdue University/CME Group Ag Economy Barometer were asked what changes, if any, they will make to their farm in 2026 to respond to low corn prices. Langemeier said 40 percent would make no change, while 33 percent said they would use lower cost seed varieties, 30 percent would reduce phosphorus, 18 percent would reduce nitrogen, and 18 percent would reduce seeding rate.

Farmers generally have about 40 corn crops over their lifetimes, he said.

“You have 40 chances to get it right,” Langemeier pointed out. “If you’re on the year 25 or year 30, I always think you’re probably close to where you need to be so how much tweaking do you need to do? When you come into an environment where there’s such a large gap between price and production cost, you start realizing I need to look at every cost on that budget and see if I can make any changes.”

The right way to cut costs is to cut them only when the marginal benefits of doing so outweigh the marginal costs, he said.

Dan Quinn, assistant professor of agronomy, looked at where corn farmers might find some flexibility in cutting costs without sacrificing production.

The two highest variable costs for corn – seed and nitrogen fertilizer – often have a lot of flexibility in application, he said. He suggested farmers consider lowering seeding rates because today’s hybrids are better able to work with those lower rates.

Farmers should target the use of the economic optimum nitrogen rate (or maximum return) rather than the agronomic optimum nitrogen rate (maximum yield), Quinn said.

“(Understand) making informed, targeted input applications,” he explained. “A lot of that has to do with disease control, so the fungicide applications, biological applications, micro nutrients, bio-stimulants, there’s a thousand million out there now. Ask yourself these questions – is there a justification for that application? Have I tried them on my farm? Have I seen it work or have I not seen it work? On the fungicide side, do I have a history of disease or do I not have a history of disease.”

Shaun Casteel, professor of agronomy, discussed reducing costs in soybean production. He said fertilizer accounts for 26 percent of variable costs for soybeans, while seed accounts for 21 percent and pesticides 20 percent.

Farmers who practice a “build-up and maintain” approach when it comes to phosphorus and potassium would have an opportunity to forego them both if their soil levels are sufficient, Casteel said.

The timely planting of soybeans is important, he said.

“Usually we think of mid-Aprils, late Mays as a good sweet spot to maximize our yield,” Casteel said. “You’re doing nothing else but just deciding when to plant. All your other investments are the same. So it’s just maximizing the potential and then getting more of that production.”

A closed soybean canopy should be established by early July, he said. “‘Green to the eye by the 4th of July’ is what we’re shooting for.”