Wisconsin's Profits Through Efficient Production Systems Contest: What We Learned Over 25 Years Of PEPS.

From 1987 to 2011, the UW Agronomy Department conducted the Profits through Efficient Production Systems (PEPS) contest. The contest is divided into divisions involving: 1) corn, cash grain; 2) corn, dairy and livestock (rotation with alfalfa or manure application); 3) corn, silage and 4) soybean. The objectives of PEPS were to: 1) recognize practices utilized by profitable farmers; 2) provide other farmers, educators, and researchers insight into ways profitable farmers integrate practices; and 3) emphasize soil and water conservation, efficiency, profitability and competitiveness versus productivity alone. Since 1987, 625 farmers have entered 2814 fields in the contest. During the last five years of the program, corn production costs nearly doubled 2x for fertilizer and 1.5x for seed. PEPS costs probably underestimate actual costs because not all inputs are accounted for completely, and the required 10-acre contest field is located on the best soils and managed optimally. For both corn and soybean, better efficiency (low cost per bushel) occurs with higher yields. There were 210 cases where farmers participated in the contest for four or more years in a division and increased both grain yield and grower return. It is unknown whether farmers integrate PEPS practices into whole-farm systems, but increased profitability is measured in PEPS contest fields.