Work

Why raw yield data are better than relative yield in informing agronomic and economic decisions

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: While relative yield is widely used for its comparability, normalization can cause significant information loss. This study reframes yield metric selection as a model evaluation problem to determine the most accurate representation of crop response. We evaluated seven yield metrics with three agronomic models, comparing estimates of a critical soil phosphorus (P) threshold for robustness and plausibility against a regional guideline of 30 mg kg − 1 . Models using raw yield consistently provided the best fit, with threshold estimates (28.9–34.6 mg kg − 1 ) closely aligning with the benchmark. Conversely, normalized metrics like relative yield performed poorly, generating highly variable and biased estimates. These findings establish that raw yield is the most statistically robust and economically relevant metric for quantifying crop response, holding important implications for nutrient management.

Source: Agricultural & Environmental Letters

DOI: 10.1002/ael2.70059

Authors: Falin Sun, Wenying Li, Joshua M. Duke, Joshua M. McGrath, Vaughn Reed

Institutions: Auburn University, Agricultural Research Service, Mississippi State University

Language: English

Topic: Agricultural Science and Fertilization

Subfield: Soil Science

Field: Agricultural and Biological Sciences

Domain: Life Sciences

SDG: Zero hunger

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $1,900