Once you have analyzed your results both statistically and economically, you can draw conclusions. In the case of applying fungicides to corn, perhaps your results showed that fungicide-treated corn did not statistically enhance yield compared to the untreated corn. However, economically, the fungicide treatment may have paid for itself. Or the results could have been reversed. What should you do the following year?
Depending on the results, you could certainly choose to either apply or not apply fungicide at V5 to all your corn acres based on this one year of data. However, we recommend conducting on-farm research studies for more than one year to gain greater confidence that your results weren’t specific to that particular year and field location. The more data you have from multiple years or multiple locations, the more powerful your data. Remember, data can be from just your farm or from several locations. This in turn gives you greater confidence in the yield results of the treatments being tested.
Conclusion
In production agriculture, it is what you think you know that you really don’t know that can hurt you. Determine the question and use the tools you have to find the answer for your operation. Learn more about conducting on-farm research, view results from previous years, and contact a UNL Extension specialist or educator to get started.
