By Tadeo Ruiz Sandoval
Corey Hanson, who grows soybeans in Gary in the Red River Valley, has waged many battles against Iron Deficiency Chlorosis, also known as IDC, in his crops.
“It's always there someplace,” said Hanson. “Just depends on how severe it is, depending on what the spring did, how the [snow] melt happened, and how much rain we've received throughout the spring.”
The condition appears when the soybean plants aren’t able to access the iron they need to grow. Affected soybeans’ leaves turn yellow early in their life cycle. When that happens, the plants aren’t actively photosynthesizing, which stunts their development.
Hanson has been trying multiple different treatments over the last 20 years. Lately, he’s been applying liquid iron to his fields, which he says has helped mitigate the severity of IDC. But that increases his costs.
Those cost increases come at a time when many farmers’ operating expenses are already high. Soybean prices are also lower than they were a few years ago. Hanson said that paying for liquid iron to improve yield, in hopes of higher profit, feels like a gamble.
"We don't know right now what the full price of our soybeans will be next year. We can have an idea, a hope, but we don't know," said Hanson. "All my cards to play to get a better yield in hopes of a profit could be all for naught, but I don't know that now."
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