Plan to Profit

After all, though we greatly enjoy the quality of life that agriculture offers, all of us are in the business of making a profit.

It’s been said that a goal without a plan is a dream. Regardless of commodity price, those who don’t plan are just dreaming about profit.

Two big topics as I write this are commodity prices and input costs. But then, those should be our focal points every season. Regardless of price or cost in any given year in any given business — on- or off-farm — we must know our costs and our price potential.

In this issue we introduce a new column, Economics of Agronomics. The writers for this new column are the co-founders of Ag Economic Insights (AEI.ag), David Widmar and Brent Gloy. Syngenta partners with AEI.ag on several economic fronts, and we asked them to participate in Thrive so our readers also have the benefit of their economic acumen.

Their first column focuses on understanding on-farm production costs and dives into calculating cost by the bushel or by the acre.

As input providers, we find value in using cost per bushel to compare performance of various inputs. For instance, our research shows a significant yield advantage for corn farmers who use Acuron^® herbicide or Trivapro^® fungicide. Evaluating inputs based on the additional profit opportunity for our customers feels right. After all, though we greatly enjoy the quality of life that agriculture offers, all of us are in the business of making a profit.

This is the year to go to the wall putting everything in that you can, do it before interest rates go up, and support production with inputs that drive profit opportunity. Our goal with the products we offer is to support environmental and economic sustainability for farmers. We hope this new content helps you do that.

Lynn Sandlin

© 2022 Syngenta. Important: Always read and follow label instructions. Some products may not be registered for sale or use in all states or counties. Please check with your local extension service to ensure registration status. Acuron is a Restricted Use Pesticides. Acuron^®, Trivapro^®, and the Syngenta logo are trademarks of a Syngenta Group Company. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.