Getting in the
ZONE Developing management zones focuses nutrients in appropriate areas By Martha Blum AgriNews Publications
14 | DeKalb County AG MAG | Spring 2022
The goal for Jay Riddell is to equalize the cost per bushel for growing corn or soybeans across an entire field. “Our goal is not to maximize yield or reduce inputs because in areas that we know we can raise 300-bushel corn, I expect to spend more per acre on that area of the field,” said Riddell who grows corn and soybeans on about 2,500 acres. “I want my cost per bushel through all areas of the field to be the same,” he said during
presentation at the Better Beans event hosted by the Illinois Soybean Association in Sycamore. “That’s what I consider to be a success.” Riddell farms near Sparland and his family has raised Hereford cattle since 1916. “We are three miles off the Illinois River and we have a lot of Class A soils all the way to timber soils,” he said. “I also farm near Putnam and that farm has good black sand all the way to blow sand and there is irrigation.”
