6 Ways to Unlock the Next Level of Production

Season’s end is a great time to reflect on successes and missed opportunities to develop a solid plan for 2025. As you look for ways to unlock the next level of production, it’s helpful to have clear goals in mind. Where do you want to take your operation in the next three to five years? Where are you hoping to find efficiencies? Are there new management practices or products you’d like to try? These are questions you should be asking yourself as you craft your production plan for next season. Here are six tips that can help take your operation to the next level in 2025. 

Tackle weed control with strong genetics.

Weed control is low-hanging fruit when it comes to boosting productivity. Get ahead of intensive management practices by choosing seed that is already equipped with weed-resistant traits. There are many different CROPLAN^® varieties with traits that both combat weeds effectively and tackle other agronomic challenges like poor soil conditions or specific diseases. If you’re planting soybeans, consider CROPLAN varieties with innovative traits such as Roundup Ready 2 Xtend^®, XtendFlex^® and Enlist E3^®. When choosing varieties, we recommend first picking what traits will fight weeds best, then determining the most critical agronomic needs to which it must stand. With the help of your CROPLAN retailer, review local Answer Plot^® data to find the best performing varieties in your area that fit those parameters.

Stay on the defensive with soybeans.

Across all of your acres there are bound to be discrepancies in field conditions, but you can combat variability by planting a seed intended to maintain consistency. WinPak^® soybean varieties blend two high-performing and complementary seed varieties into one bag to provide stability across fields with variable levels of drainage, organic matter and other soil conditions. Planting a versatile soybean variety allows you to mitigate variability risks in challenging acres while getting high yield potential from productive ones.

If fertilizer prices have you considering more soybean acres in 2025, you’ll need to take steps to optimize their productivity potential. For fields that haven’t had soybeans on them in the past three to five years, inoculating seed with rhizobium bacteria is recommended to promote adequate nitrogen fixation in the soil.

Overcome fertility challenges.

As mentioned, fertility costs are undoubtedly on farmers’ minds. Since reaching record highs in 2022, fertility costs have been increasingly volatile the past few crop years. A study by the University of Illinois predicts if corn and natural gas prices remain consistent, there is potential for increased prices that would support average anhydrous ammonia prices around $750 per ton.1 Increases in fertility costs mean you should consider reassessing your plant nutrition plan to optimize yields while effectively managing cost-per-acre production expenses for next season’s crop.

If you have recent grid soil sampling data, use it to build variable-rate fertility prescriptions. A targeted in-season application could result in significant fertility savings next season.

Protect plant health.

Tar spot is becoming a more significant threat for farmers and also is expanding its reach. To protect corn in 2025, it’s essential to plan now to support season-long plant health. Tar spot, in particular, may require multiple applications for adequate control. As with other crop protection products, fungicide availability could be limited. Premium fungicides that work well against tar spot could be hard to come by, so if you can secure purchases for vulnerable acres ahead of time, you may save yourself headaches next summer. 

You can help mitigate risk and maximize ROI potential when making fungicide applications with the Impact Rx™ Prescription Service. It uses the quality data and insights from our Answer Plot program to deliver customized fungicide recommendations through your local retailer that are backed by a service warranty covered by WinField United.*

Use data to support profitable seed decisions.

Harvest data is your friend when it comes to improving productivity potential. Today’s technology enables the collection of many data points that can turn into insights for your operation. If you’re not sure what data is relevant, your retailer can offer support for making the most of the information you’ve gathered. 

With the help of your local CROPLAN retailer, you can take the guesswork out of picking the best corn, wheat or soybean seed for every acre. CROPLAN’s vast library of resources and data, with management information including response-to-nitrogen scores, will be helpful as you adjust your fertility program for next season. 

Set realistic expectations. 

If you plan to try out new production practices or products next season, be sure to have a purpose in mind and set realistic expectations. Do your homework ahead of time to understand the benefits and limitations of new production products and practices. Identify goals, set performance benchmarks and track progress throughout the season to measure success. The Advanced Acre^® Rx Prescription Program delivers customized agronomic recommendations that can help mitigate risk when trying new practices on your farm.

Rebounding commodity prices may provide some extra margin you can use to unlock more potential from your acres in 2025. Contact your local retailer to get personalized recommendations to take your operation to the next level.   

<sub>¹Paulson, N., Schnitkey, G., Zulauf, C., Colussi, J., & Baltz, J. (2024, June 18). Where might nitrogen fertilizer prices be headed? farmdoc daily, 14(114). Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

*Agreement is required, and conditions, restrictions and service fees apply. Only available to corn and soybean farmers who enroll a minimum of 250 acres of an individual crop in the program. The WinField United delivery of this service and growers’ participation in this service offering are subject to the terms and conditions provided in the grower participation agreement.

All photos are either the property of WinField United or used with permission. 

© 2025 WinField United. Important: Before use always read and follow label instructions. Crop performance is dependent on several factors many of which are beyond the control of WinField United, including without limitation, soil type, pest pressures, agronomic practices and weather conditions. Growers are encouraged to consider data from multiple locations, over multiple years and to be mindful of how such agronomic conditions could impact results. CROPLAN, MasterLock, MAX-IN, ZMB, Answer Plot, Advanced Acre, Impact Rx and WinField are trademarks of WinField United. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.</sub>