If you’re a farmer growing corn or soybeans, you’ve felt the squeeze. Corn prices have dropped to their lowest inflation-adjusted levels in nearly two decades. Exporters are facing fiercer global competition and shifting demand. Meanwhile the land you rely on? It’s been taking hits for years: depleted nutrients, compacted soils, and fewer helpful microbes than you’d like.

It matters because even if you plant good seed and apply every bag in the shed, if the soil’s not cooperating, you’re building from weakness. It’s like trying to build a house on sand.

The real cost of depleted soil

Here’s the deal: soil is more than the ground under your feet. It’s a living system. It holds water, stores nutrients, supports your plants when the rain skips town. But decades of high-chemical farming have stripped out the life that makes soil work.

When soil goes bad:

• Yields plateau or slide backward, even when you do all the right things.
• You lean harder on synthetic fertilizer and pesticide inputs and input costs are still freaking high.
• Soil fails to hold water during dry stretches and floods it during heavy rain.

Here are some numbers that cut to the chase:

• U.S. corn ending stocks are projected around 1.8 billion bushels for 2025-26 according to USDA.
• The average farm-gate price for corn this year? Forecasted at about $4.20 per bushel.
• U.S. corn exports to China have collapsed down roughly 80 % in recent years. 

What’s the takeaway? You’re working harder and spending more, but the margin for error is shrinking fast.

A new path: restoring from the ground up

Enough doom and gloom. There’s an alternate route. Instead of squeezing every last bushel from weakened soil, you build soil health and lean on the ground itself to lift your crops.

That’s where 4GSoil Restoration comes in. Instead of “feed the plant, dump the chemicals,” the idea is “feed the soil, let the plant thrive.” Founded by Tom Wafford in Dillsboro, Indiana, 4GSoil developed products built on beneficial microbes, plant-ready calcium, and organic nutrients.

So how does it actually help?

• It boosts microbial life in the soil and the organisms that do the heavy lifting of nutrient cycling.
• It improves soil structure so roots grow deeper, access more water, and plant stands stand stronger.
• It reduces your need for synthetic fertilizers and pesticides over time, lowering cost and dependency.

Since soil isn’t just the base; it’s the engine. Healthy soil soaks up what you give it, holds what it needs, and keeps your plants from scrambling when weather or market changes.

Why this matters for corn and soy farmers now

Let’s bring it back to you. You’re growing corn or soybeans. Maybe you’re feeling the pinch of low prices, tight margins, and rising costs. Maybe markets are volatile. Maybe your soil has been pushed hard for years.

Soil regeneration isn’t just a “nice to have.” It’s practical.

• If your soil holds more water, you can protect your crops during dry spells without immediately drowning the field or burning cash on irrigation.
• If your soil releases nutrients naturally, you spend less on bagged fertilizer and see plants that behave better with stronger stalks, fewer stressed plants, fewer surprises.
• If your soil supports beneficial microbes, you’re less vulnerable to pests and diseases that cost you time and money every season.

That’s how farms win. Not just by chasing yield at any cost, but by building a system that keeps delivering year after year.

It’s time to dig deeper

Corn and soybeans are America’s top crops for a reason. They feed livestock, fuel exports, and support communities. But the foundation beneath them is tired. Farmers can’t keep adding more synthetics and expect long-term stability.

So what’s the first step? Start with your soil. Try something that rebuilds it, instead of one more application that treats the symptom. Living soil is the foundation of living farms.

If you’re ready to dig in, restore your soil, and get your farm back on stronger footing, check out 4GSoil Restoration and learn how their natural soil-health solutions can help. 

Because healthier soil isn’t just good for the land. It’s good for your farm, your family, and your future. That’s something we all want.