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Scrutinize every input

Farmers planning for 2018 are reminded to scrutinize each input decision.

Sara Berg, agronomy field specialist with South Dakota State University Extension, says producers are facing tight margins and a plethora of products.

“Consider the source.  You need to be able to look at who did the research.  If a company is publishing its own research, that doesn’t mean that it’s bad, but you should really scrutinize it.  Because if I want to sell ball-point pens (for example), I’m going to tell you they are the best ball-point pens.  That’s what I want you to believe.”

She recommends removing emotion and looking at the data.

“Where was the research conducted?  Were the conditions reasonable for your situation?  Did they have a check or control treatment?  Those are some really simple ways to see if this is some valid research before we even look at the numbers.”

Berg tells Brownfield replication and statistical analysis are also valuable when deciding on inputs.