Disappointed with 2026 yields, some farmers are already thinking about making major changes to their operations for 2027. Farm Journal Field Agronomist Ken Ferrie has a message for them: Pump the brakes.
“While there’s nothing wrong with making changes — the world is constantly changing — I would suggest caution when you’re thinking about making big-scale changes in your operation,” Ferrie said in his weekly Boots In The Field report. “I’m a big believer in walking before you run when you’re talking about operational changes.”
Learn First, Change Second
As growers wrap up harvest and prepare for winter yield map meetings, Ferrie encourages them to take a close look at 2026 results before deciding what needs to change. The first step is figuring out what actually limited performance — and whether the problem calls for a management adjustment or something more substantial.
“We’ll be looking at what factors played into the harvest results, looking for that reason why certain hybrids work for some people and not others,” Ferrie says. “Why did certain practices seem to miss their mark compared to other years?”
Getting to those answers means looking beyond yield numbers. Ferrie’s team will examine thousands of acres of yield maps alongside planting dates, hybrid maturities, field drainage, topography and local weather patterns. That additional information can help distinguish management decisions that need attention from growing conditions that were largely beyond a farmer’s control.
The No-Till Consideration
With diesel prices at $6-plus per gallon and disappointing yields weighing on farm income, switching to no-till might look like an appealing way to cut costs. That temptation can be even stronger when a neighboring farmer has made no-till work successfully for years.
But Ferrie cautions that what works on one farm might not translate immediately to another.
“Your neighbor may have scaled up over time, eliminating horizontal layers, setting up his soil fertility, getting his equipment situated for his particular farm,” he notes.
Those adjustments don’t happen overnight. Ferrie’s 2026 plot results offer a good example of why management decisions need to account for individual field conditions.
In one soybean trial, for example, two varieties planted on the same day responded differently to tillage. The 3.4-maturity variety yielded 7 bushels more with tillage, enough to cover the additional expense and generate a positive return. The 3.1-maturity variety, however, favored no-till by 1.5 bushels, making it the better economic choice, given the cost of diesel.
Strip-till corn also showed an early advantage, pollinating about a week ahead of no-till. But by harvest, the yield difference had narrowed to roughly 1 bu./acre — not enough to justify the additional expense.
The takeaway: A practice that looks promising early in the season doesn’t always deliver a meaningful economic advantage at harvest.
Rethinking Nitrogen? Think It Through
Severe nitrogen deficiency in some 2026 cornfields has growers reconsidering fall-applied anhydrous ammonia in favor of in-season sidedressing. After June rainfall totals in central Illinois reached 15 inches in some areas, it’s understandable why farmers might want to rethink their nitrogen programs.
Ferrie agrees that building more flexibility into a nitrogen program makes sense. But switching application timing across an entire operation requires more than deciding a different approach might work better.
“Do you have enough people and time to sidedress all your acres?” he asks. “If you figured out that your nitrogen program isn’t weatherproofed enough when you get 15 inches of rain in June, it is a good idea to make changes or come up with a plan B. But be careful about wide-scale changes in your operation without thinking through the whole process.”
That means considering equipment availability, labor, application windows and logistics. A sidedress program might offer greater flexibility, but farmers need to be confident they can get the job done across their acres when conditions and crop growth demand it.
What the Data Actually Tells You
Yield maps can help farmers determine whether a disappointing result points to a management problem or simply reflects an unusually challenging growing season.
In many fields, Ferrie says, the pattern was telling. Areas that looked good from the road but underperformed at harvest often showed a clear difference between low ground and higher, better-drained areas. That suggests prolonged soil saturation, rather than a failed management practice, was a major factor.
Saturated soils deprive aerobic soil bacteria of oxygen, disrupting biological activity. Soybean nodules turned black in some fields and took nearly a month to recover. Nitrogen was lost through leaching, while early-season saturation affected corn ear development. Many ears this fall had just 12 to 14 rows, Ferrie reports.
Record July temperatures compounded the stress, creating what Ferrie describes as a double whammy in poorly drained areas.
There were also some unexpected, positive yield results. Multiple Illinois growers told Ferrie their best corn yields came from late-planted or replanted fields seeded between May 25 and June 7.
But Ferrie cautions against treating that outcome as a reason to change next year’s planting strategy.
“Deciding to plant all your corn between May 25 and June 7 next year will most likely not be a good decision,” he said.
Make Changes With a Purpose
Ferrie isn’t suggesting farmers stick with practices that aren’t working. Rather, he wants them to use the information available to make targeted, informed adjustments.
Yield maps might reveal areas where drainage improvements could pay. Other data might point to opportunities to improve nitrogen management or build more flexibility into an input program. The important thing is understanding the reason for a change before committing to it across the farm.
“Our goal is to keep this crop as happy as possible all season, no matter what Mother Nature throws at us,” Ferrie says. “We’re here to help you with that thought process.”
For farmers making agronomic decisions about 2027, that’s an important distinction: Learn what 2026 can teach you, but don’t let one tough year dictate major changes for your operation.
You can hear Ferrie share more of his perspective on planning for the year ahead in this episode of Boots In The Field, available at the link below:
