Do you really need soybean inoculants?

Did you use inoculant on your soybean?

I get this question a lot and I quite understand. Inoculant is cheaper than chemical fertilizer. Add some of the nitrogen-fixing bacteria in the soil and they do a great job of providing your soybean plants with some nitrogen they require.

But, did I use it? No

This is why.

Whenever I begin my farm planning, my goal is still get optimum yield with as little resources as possible. If I don’t absolutely need a particular input, I don’t use it.

Now here are some situations when you really need inoculant:

1. If you have not planted soybean for more than 3 years on your land the population of the nitrogen-fixing bacteria may just be too low. Use inoculant.
2. If your soil pH is less than 5.8 or greater than 8, the population of the bacteria may be low because they do not fare well under these conditions.
3. If your field was inundated in water or held pockets of standing water for a long period of time, by all means use soybean inoculant.
4. Sandy soils with low organic matter, in extremely dry areas are definitely candidates for inoculation.

If you do not have any of the above problems but choose to use inoculant, that’s still alright. Maybe you get 2% increase in yield. Now the ball is in your court. If you can justify the cost of innoculant by this 2% increase, so be it.