According to remarks made by attendees at a symposium on soybeans, American farmers anticipate that new technologies will increase productivity on their fields in the upcoming years, but they are concerned about labor availability.
Farmers predicted that technical advancements, such as improved soil sampling tools and soy and corn seeds, will lead to increased agricultural yields in the upcoming growing seasons since they will provide a better understanding of what is required to increase output.
“We have the coolest toys these days,” Kansas farmer Lance Rezac remarked on a panel at the US Soybean Export Council-organized Soy Connext conference (USSEC).
According to Rezac, thorough field sampling gives farmers a wealth of data for analysis, enabling them to determine more precisely how much fertilizer and other inputs each plot requires.
The farmers claimed that increased machine efficiency is a result of improvements.
Rezac said that by using new precision planting tools, he was able to reduce seed losses by up to 10%.
Iowa farmer Jeff Jorgenson stated, “There is no doubt yields are going up with some of the improvements in the genetics side that we’ve seen.”
As the climate has changed, becoming usually warmer and drier, seed companies have started creating new hybrids.
Despite challenges with this year’s weather, most farmers were optimistic about the state of the market.
According to them, prices will remain reasonable due to rising global demand for protein and rising usage of biofuels.
Michigan farmer Janna Fritz remarked, “Working with soybeans is a fun time.”
She issued a warning, pointing out that the retirement of farmers will require more individuals to fill the job gap since generational shifts have not been sufficient.
Reggie Strickland grows vegetables in North Carolina in addition to maize and soy, and he claimed the labor shortage for that type of production—which involves manual harvesting—is much worse.