New Online Tool Helps Farmers Optimize Seeding Rates

Adjusting soybean seeding rates based on the potential for attainable yield can significantly reduce seed cost for farmers. To this end, a team of researchers has developed an interactive web tool to better calculate these rates.

Called the Soybean Variable-Rate Seeding (VRS) Simulator, the tool was developed with the R-Shiny package for use in yield environments in the U.S. Midwest. As reported recently in Agronomy Journal, the tool requires just a few simple inputs: three years of yield monitor data, seed cost, and market price. With that, the simulator identifies yield environments and estimates the potential economic benefits of VRS prescriptions, including a step-by-step guide using a real, on-farm yield example dataset. Simulations indicate that following VRS recommendations could increase profits between $2 and $23 per acre over fixed rates.

The VRS simulator is part of a movement to develop user-friendly interfaces that empower farmers to turn agronomic knowledge into practical solutions to optimize yield and profits.