Researchers at the University of Maryland are inviting growers across the state to participate in their University of Maryland – Testing Ag Performance Solutions (UMD-TAPS) program this year. The program is supported by the Maryland Soybean Board and will run throughout the summer.
Piloted at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the TAPS program provides farmers with a zero-risk opportunity to advance their agricultural management skills and knowledge. It serves as a growing season contest and research framework, designed to uncover how producers’ management decisions drive crop yields, farm profitability, and input-use efficiency.
Growers must make decisions about variety selection, fertility, pest management, and irrigation and their management decisions will be executed in small plots at the Wye Research and Education Center. Decisions made by all participants will be executed in one field, in a true head-to-head competition. The goal is to identify which suite of management decisions will become the most profitable, efficient, and highest yielding.
Researchers at the Maryland Agricultural Experimentation Station (MAES) WYE Research and Education Center will lead the program and gather data on each plot to share with farmers.
When the season ends, growers will participate in an awards dinner where they will gain access to valuable data sets to help them enhance their agricultural operations.
The irrigated corn competition is limited to 20 teams and the irrigated soybean competition is limited to 15 teams. Due to limited availability, researchers urge teams to sign up as soon as possible.
Interested applicants can sign up by following this link: bit.ly/UMDTAPS25. For any questions, please reach out to Dr. Nicole Fiorellino at nfiorell@umd.edu.
What: Pesticide labeling is changing to incorporate protections for Endangered and Threatened species. Only recently have labeled herbicides addressed ESA, but as additional herbicides are labeled and existing herbicides are re-registered, these changes will be more common. This meeting will address how these changes will impact pesticide applications and discuss what needs to be considered when selecting specific pesticides.
University of Maryland, Agriculture Law Education Initiative
The University of Maryland Extension has updated www.go.umd.edu/grainmarketing site with custom rates, field crop budgets, and a new online tool for grain marketing analysis.
Custom Rates
A mail and online survey conducted in the Fall of 2024 gathered custom work charge data from 61 operators and farmers across Maryland and Delaware. Custom rates refer to the fees charged for various agricultural field operations performed and often include services such as planting, tillage, harvesting, spraying, and manure application. These rates provide a valuable resource for determining fair pricing when other benchmarks are unavailable.
The report summarizes the range, average, and median rates for custom services, offering insights into cost trends. Comparisons with past surveys from 2023, 2021, 2019, and 2017 highlight rate changes over time.
Variations in charges stem from factors such as location, field conditions, equipment type, and service timeliness. Some rates have been excluded due to insufficient responses.
Overall farm production costs are expected to rise 5% in 2025 compared to 2023. The most significant rise is in field preparation, which is expected to jump 16%.
Key Cost Increases:
Field Preparation: Projected to rise 16%, from $20 to $24.
Planting Costs: Estimated to grow 14%, reaching $25
Grass and Hay Production: Expected to increase by 15%, from $15 to $18
Labor Costs: Rising 11%, from $42 to $47
Field Applications: Experiencing a modest 8% increase, from $14 to $15
Harvesting: Expected to increase from $73 in 2023 to $86 in 2025 (15%)
Equipment Costs Decline: The only area expected to see a cost reduction is equipment expenses, which are reported to drop by 19%, from $85 to $71.
Crop Budgets
Cost of production is very important when making decisions related to your farm enterprise and grain marketing. Surveys from 2024 UME Winter Crop Production meetings report 66% of farmers believe input costs are the greatest challenges facing their farm operation. Enterprise budgets provide valuable information regarding individual enterprises on the farm. This tool enables farm managers to make decisions regarding enterprises and plan for the coming production year. An enterprise budget uses farm revenue, variable cost, fixed cost, and net income to provide a clear picture of the financial health of each farm enterprise.
The 2025 Maryland enterprise budgets were developed using average yields and estimated input costs based on producer and farm supplier data. Fertilizer prices, pesticide availability, and fuel expenses have fluctuated greatly. The figures presented are averages and vary greatly from one farm and region to the other. It is, therefore, crucial to input actual farm data when completing enterprise budgets for your farm.
The latest cost per acre comparison from 2024 and 2025 reveals shifts in input costs and market conditions affecting farmers. Overall, there is a slight decrease in costs from 2024. The cost of production per acre for Corn – No Till is projected to decrease from $690 in 2024 to $655 in 2025, marking a 5% decline. Similarly, Corn – Conventional is expected to see a 2% decrease, dropping from $749 to $731 per acre. Conversely, Soybeans are expected to experience a 5% cost increase, rising from $410 per acre in 2024 to $431 in 2025. The most significant decrease is seen in Wheat, where costs are projected to decline by 6%, from $514 per acre in 2024 to $481 in 2025.
How to Use University Enterprise Budgets:
The enterprise budgets can be used as a baseline for your operation, and you can modify these budgets to include your production techniques, inputs, and overall management. The budgets are available electronically in PDF, Excel, and now as an interactive website at go.umd.edu/efmd. Use this document as a start or reference to create your crop budgets. Contact information is on the website if you have problems downloading any information.
Cost per acre for selected crops
New Grain Marketing Tool
To assist farmers in making crop enterprise decisions, UMD has introduced the Maryland Grain Budget Planner, a new online tool that integrates crop budget data with grain marketing analysis. This free resource, funded by the Northeast Extension Risk Management Education Center, helps farmers track market trends, project expenses, and benchmark financial performance. By using this tool, producers can make more informed decisions about the cost of production, marketing strategies, and overall farm profitability. The tool includes a Market Analysis tab, which provides historical pricing data and cost trends. Below is an example of estimated crop income per bushel from the Market Analysis tab:
Farmers and crop consultants are encouraged to complete this survey
This survey is intended to estimate the impact of pests on soybeans and currently used management strategies. Your perspective is valuable in making these estimates as accurate as possible. Your responses will be kept confidential and only aggregated responses for the state will be published. You can find last year’s estimates at https://midsouthentomologist.org.msstate.edu/Volume17/Vol-17-1_TOC.html.
Shannon Dill, Principal Agriculture Agent | sdill@umd.edu University of Maryland Extension, Talbot County
Extension services in Maryland and Delaware will be collecting custom survey rates this fall. We need your assistance securing up-to-date information about farm custom work rates, machinery rental rates, and hired labor costs. Custom rates are used widely by farmers across the states, so we need the best information available.
Please respond even if you know only a few rates. We want information on actual rates, either what you PAID TO HIRE work or what you CHARGED TO PERFORM custom work. Custom Rates should include all ownership costs of implement & tractor (if needed), operator labor, fuel, and lube. Reported rates will be summarized in the Custom Rate Survey to show a range and averages for the states. NO individual names or rates will be published in the Custom Rate Survey.
The results will be available at local Extension Offices and will be available online at https://extension.umd.edu/grainmarketing. We hope this publication will benefit you as a custom farm operator. Thank you for your cooperation in this effort.
The survey can be completed online at: https://go.umd.edu/customrate2025 or to get a blank survey call the Talbot County Extension office at 410-822-1244. Please complete the survey by December 31, 2024.
Harvest is winding down. Corn yields were all over the place, and while it doesn’t look pretty, mycotoxin levels have been low to existent. Soybeans, too, have been disappointing. Even with good yields, quality and reject levels are highly variable. Wheat and Barley are going into the ground; the only thing missing is the much-needed precipitation. Yes, we are dry out here again. The rains of September allowed us to feel comfortable, but our comfort levels have been dropping. The La Nina predicted this winter does give us hope for above-average precipitation. Until March 2025, wishing you warm holidays and a wet winter.—Jeff Semler, Washington Co.
Central Maryland
No report this month.
Northern Maryland
The headline story for this fall has been the drought. We have not had any measurable rain since October 2, with the exception of about 0.25-0.5” that fell about a week ago. The dry weather has made for a dangerous harvest, especially in soybeans—I know of at least 5 close calls with combine fires in our region, including one major fire causing a total loss. Yields are highly variable across the region, largely depending on soil type and pockets that received more rain than others. In general, corn yields started off very poor but have picked up and are not nearly as disappointing as many expected. Soybean yields are all over the map and many double crop soybeans may out-yield full season beans this year. Low soil moisture has lead to slow small grain and cover crop establishment.—Andy Kness, Harford Co.
Upper and Mid Shore
Corn and soybean harvests are all but complete, with both crops having struggled under this season’s dry conditions, resulting in below-average yields across the region. The lack of rain also hasn’t made things easy for the wheat and cover crops planted this fall. Thankfully, the warmer-than-usual temperatures may have allowed these crops to put on some extra growth before winter sets in. With some much-needed rainfall this past weekend, they should now be better prepared to face the colder months ahead. As always, farmers are at the mercy of the weather, and after this season’s challenges, everyone is hopeful for more favorable conditions next year.—Dwayne Joseph, Kent Co.
Lower Shore
We had several weeks of drought, and conditions are very dry and dusty. The drought allowed for harvest to finish earlier than typical. Corn harvest is done. Soybean harvest is approximately 80% complete, even for double cropped soybean. Wheat is being planted. The dry weather has led to poor germination and establishment of cover crops. We had a 1” rain a few days ago, which should help establish cover crops that are still being drilled following soybean harvest. Corn and soybean yields are below average on unirrigated land, due to the dry weather earlier in the growing season. This is a year that irrigation definitely paid off, even with low commodity prices.—Sarah Hirsh, Somerset Co.
Andrew Kness, Senior Agriculture Agent | akness@umd.edu and Nicole Fiorellino, Assistant Professor & Extension Agronomist University of Maryland
Figure 1. Aerial photo of soybean maturity groups 1.5-3.0 showing different rates of senescence on September 4, 2024. Photo: A. Kness.
In recent years, many growers have expressed interest in and experimented with early maturing soybean maturity groups. The concept is appealing to some growers because it allows for an early harvest and earlier establishment of cover crops and/or small grains. However, there are a lot of questions related to how these early maturity groups can perform in our climate at our latitude and little data exists from our region to reference. With funding from the Maryland Soybean Board, we evaluated the agronomic characteristics of early maturity soybeans grown in a Maryland climate for their potential integration into Maryland grain rotations.
Soybean varieties ranging from maturity group (MG) 1.5-3.0 from two seed suppliers (Hubner and Pioneer) were planted on May 30, 2024 at the Wye Research and Education Center. All MG 1.5 and MG 2.0 Hubner brand plots were harvested on September 24 with remaining plots harvested on October 7th. Wheat was planted in the plots harvested at the first timing on October 10th and planted in the second harvest timing plots on October 23rd.
Mixed model analysis of variance was used to analyze the yield data, including brand (Hubner or Pioneer), maturity group, and interaction of the two. Significant effect of maturity group only (P=0.0008) with means separation by Tukey’s HSD (Figure 2).
Yields for all MGs were very strong; ranging from 55 bu/ac to nearly 70 bu/ac. Maturity group 3.0 yielded significantly more than MG 2 and 1.5 and similar to MG 2.5. Maturity groups 1.5 and 2.0 yielded similarly to each other.
Figure 2. Average soybean yield by maturity group from 2024 trials.
This is only the first year of this study and we will conduct this research again in 2025. These preliminary data shows encouraging results and potential for early MG soybeans, which could offer some added benefits to establishing an early cover crop or a timelier planting of a subsequent wheat crop. Earlier cover crop establishment would have an environmental benefit in that more nutrients could be captured and saved for the next crop. Earlier establishment of wheat or other small grains, would also allow for more fall tiller development, which have the potential to contribute to more yield in the spring. We will see how the planting dates affect wheat yield in these plots next summer.
We would like to thank the Maryland Soybean Board for sponsoring this research, Hubner Seed for donating seed, and the farm crew at Wye Research and Education Center for supporting this project.
Sarah Hirsh, Agriculture Agent | shirsh@umd.edu; Haley Sater, Agriculture Agent; and Jon Moyle, Extension Poultry Specialist University of Maryland Extension
Giant miscanthus (Miscanthus × giganteus) is a perennial warm season grass known for its high biomass yield and adaptability to various growing conditions. This species of miscanthus is a sterile hybrid typically propagated by rhizomes. It can grow up to 12 feet tall with roots 8 feet deep. Giant miscanthus reaches its full biomass yield potential in the third growing season, where it can yield 10 to 15 tons per acre (Heaton et al., 2010). Giant miscanthus is used in Maryland as a bedding material in poultry houses. It can also be used as a biomass crop for fiber-based products, a bioenergy crop, and has environmental uses including erosion control, carbon sequestration, and as a buffer against nutrient runoff.
Figure 1. Giant miscanthus growing on land affected by severe deer damage, saltwater intrusion, and waterlogging.
The University of Maryland Extension performed a three-year research trial growing giant miscanthus on marginal land facing severe deer pressure, saltwater intrusion and waterlogging (Figure 1).
Figure 2. Giant miscanthus plot yields (+/- standard error) after first and second years of growth.
We found that giant miscanthus successfully grew with only a slight yield reduction. In the 10-acre field where the experiment was conducted, 20 one-meter square plots were harvested to calculate biomass yield. Yield on average in year one was 2.8 tons dry biomass per acre and yield on average in year two was 4.8 tons per acre (Figure 2). Average first- and second-year yields on prime land for growing miscanthus would be 3 tons per acre and 5-6 tons per acre, respectively. Giant miscanthus does not reach its full biomass yield potential until the third growing season, where it can ideally yield between 7-12 tons per acre (Kalmbach, et al., 2020).
In the 20 one-meter square plots where yield was taken, levels of sodium (Na) in the field ranged from 57-510 ppm Na, with an average of 174 ppm Na. This level of Na would cause stress that would result in yield loss to corn or soybean. A normal range of Na in Delmarva row-crop land is 5-40 ppm (Delmarva Saltwater Intrusion, University of Delaware, 2024). Higher concentrations of Na correlated somewhat with miscanthus biomass yield, more so in the second year than in the first year (Figure 3).
Figure 3. Correlation between giant miscanthus plot yields and soil sodium levels.
Figure 4. Giant miscanthus growing in year-round waterlogged part of field; Soil moisture data collection from plot two.
The entire study field stayed waterlogged during the winter months. The duration of waterlogging was observed to affect giant miscanthus growth and yield potential. Areas of the field where the soil stayed saturated throughout the winter and summer months had dramatically reduced giant miscanthus growth compared to areas of the field where the soil stayed saturated in the winter months but only intermittently during the summer months. In the year-round waterlogged parts of the field, giant miscanthus had shorter stand height, weaker stems and experienced lodging (Figure 4). The miscanthus grew equally well in the parts of the field that were intermittently flooded in the summer compared to the driest parts of the field (based on soil moisture sensor data; Figure 4).
The field had heavy deer pressure based on edge-of-field wildlife camera photos and observed deer tracks and paths in the field (Figure 5). However, no deer browsing of giant miscanthus was observed in the field.
Figure 5. Deer image from Bushnell wildlife camera (left) and deer tracks within field (right). Photos by H. Sater.
Research conducted on Maryland farms has demonstrated that giant miscanthus is a versatile and resilient crop that can be grown on marginal land where other traditional agronomic crops can no longer be profitably grown. Its ability to withstand deer damage, saltwater intrusion and waterlogging make it a valuable option for farmers in Maryland looking to diversify their crops and improve the sustainability of their operations. However, access to equipment and markets may be barriers to farmers growing giant miscanthus, and we do not recommend this crop prior to addressing these factors.
Heaton, E., Moore, K., Salas-Fernandez, M., Hartzler, B. Liebman, M. and Barnhart, S. (2010). Giant Miscanthus for Biomass Production. Iowa State Fact Sheet. AG201. https://store.extension.iastate.edu/product/12611
Kalmbach, B., Toor, G., & Ruppert, D. (2020). Soil Fertility Recommendations-Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium Requirements of Miscanthus (EB-443).
Shannon Dill, Principal Agriculture Agent | sdill@umd.edu Nicole Fiorellino, Assistant Professor & Extension Agronomist and Kelly Hamby, Associate Professor and Extension Entomologist University of Maryland
What is TAPS?
The Testing Ag Performance Solutions (TAPS) program was developed by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (https://taps.unl.edu/) as a zero-risk opportunity for farmers to gain experience with novel agronomic practices that are executed at a University research center, structured similarly to a yield competition. Over the last 8 years, the program has expanded across multiple states and cropping systems. Teams of farmers compete to see who can manage their “farm” to achieve the best overall profitability, input use efficiency, and yield for a given crop. Options include agronomic (variety selection, fertility, irrigation), pest management, and economic (crop insurance, forward contracting) decisions.
Why develop a UMD-TAPS program?
On-farm trials provide valuable opportunities for farmers and Extension personnel to work together to try alternatives and determine whether they work for an operation. However, the practices that can be examined may be limited by the available land and equipment. If practices do not work as expected there may also be lost yield or other financial costs to the operation. TAPS enables participants to try practices that they might not otherwise have access to, for example irrigation, or to try practices that might otherwise be too risky. In-season management decisions kept confidential, with all choices and awards presented at an end-of-season banquet to facilitate peer learning. The program is flexible from year to year, and in Maryland, we want participants to steer the management practices that are included in the competition.
2024 UMD-TAPS pilot
In 2024, we piloted this program with Extension faculty serving as participants and began with irrigated soybeans. The trial was executed at the Wye Research and Education Center, and each participant selected management options that were executed on replicated, randomized small plots. Participants receive a “menu” of both pre-plant and in-season management options to select. For the first year, we provided seven soybean varieties with maturity groups ranging from 3.2 to 4.8. Participants selected seeding rates of 80,000, 100,000, or 120,000 seeds per acre and chose irrigated or dryland. We also monitored slugs and provided slug bait options. A variety of crop insurance plans were offered and participants could forward contract at any point in the season by listing the CBOT closing price for the date. Unsold bushels received market price on the day of harvest at Mountaire and participants could determine the day that they wanted to harvest. We are currently in the process of calculating overall profitability, input use efficiency, and yield to determine winners.
2025 UMD-TAPS and beyond
In 2025, we hope to run the competition with farmer participants and will be advertising over the winter. We have built a strong partnership with the National TAPS collaborators and will use their portal in 2025 to facilitate easier communication with participants. Moving forward, we also hope to expand to additional research and education centers and possibly include a separate corn competition. We look forward to hosting field days where participants and others can come visit their replicated plots. We look forward to incorporating other ideas from our participants. If you are interested in participating in TAPS in 2025 or learning more about it, please add your contact information to this form.
TAPS Presentation at Mid-Atlantic Crop School
We are excited to have the creators of the TAPS program from UNL presenting about the TAPS program at Mid-Atlantic Crop Management School in Ocean City next week. If you are already registered for the event, we hope you will consider attending this talk.
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank John Draper, Tom Eason, and Reagan Milby at the Wye Research and Education Center for their assistance managing the plots and irrigation, Arthur Young, Shea Ill, Maria Cramer, and Em Kohanski from the Hamby lab for monitoring slugs, and Gene Hahn, Louis Thorne, and Audrey Sultenfuss from the Fiorellino lab for assistance managing and harvesting plots. We appreciate the funding provided by the Maryland Soybean Board.
