Fertilizer

[bigpaul]

I had heard fertilizer prices were going to be high this year so I checked at the feed store today. None in stock and they haven't started making it yet. I was also told the price will be doubled from last year. I didn't even ask about lime. I am just on the food plotting end but imagine what the price of food will be with this increase.

[Splitear]

20 minutes ago, bigpaul said:

I had heard fertilizer prices were going to be high this year so I checked at the feed store today. None in stock and they haven't started making it yet. I was also told the price will be doubled from last year. I didn't even ask about lime. I am just on the food plotting end but imagine what the price of food will be with this increase.

A lot of fertilizer cost/availability is based on the cost and demand of fossil fuels. When I was selling farm fertilizer, you could pretty much follow the rise and fall of anhydrous ammonia with the cost of natural gas. A lot of farmers who prepaid their fertilizer costs last year are going to look pretty smart compared to anyone who waited. 

[Moho81]

I just heard that fertilizer is going to triple in cost from last year. 

[Robhuntandfish]

i heard that too and i bought 5 bags about a month ago and it was about all they had 

[sbuff]

I'm looking for some ahead of time too

Edited March 4, 2022 by sbuff

[LET EM GROW]

IT will be 2-3 times higher than last year. If you can find it. 

This is another good reason for people to get into no till and stop beating and scratching the soil. The air is full of fertilizer, the plants take this stuff in and by no tilling, you DO NOT disrupt the soils growing eco system. You plant big blends that feed soil and wildlife and you plant with the following planting season in mind as well, based off your seed blend.. Let Nature do the work for you.. And much of Fertilizer being used isnt used efficiently anyways and much of it evaporates or your soil cant even utilize what's applied.. 

No Till..  

[Five Seasons]

I'm hoping that tucker carlson interview was wrong. Otherwise I picked a hell of a time to start food plotting. At least my ph is good haha.

[Kmartinson]

On 3/4/2022 at 2:22 PM, Belo said:

I'm hoping that tucker carlson interview was wrong. Otherwise I picked a hell of a time to start food plotting. At least my ph is good haha.

 Buckwheat. It adds nutrients. Start crop rotation and tilling under. Also compost on site. Same as your food garden. You don't need to buy ferts. In theory, just start saving waste. 

[mlammerhirt]

Enter Growalot. 

She has a 9 year supply stashed away in one of Mr. B'S 18 barns......why would she care about this topic....lol

Sent from my SM-A716V using Tapatalk

[Bionic]

It’s true, seed as well, at least 2-3x higher according to our price sheets at work.  There was a large fertilizer facility that burned up a few months ago, and apparently something with the fertilizer up in Canada, and the trucking issues have something to do with it, if I understood correctly.  We were rationing seed, and fertilizer at work late last year, because our salesman’s were warning us then but seed has somewhat of a shelf life though.  We were also hearing that something with fertilizer comes out of Ukraine? All hear say info, but it makes sense along with all of the other issues that pin ball off one another, from fuel, to staffing, and so on.

[wolc123]

Looks like I am going to cut way back on the fertilizer on my corn this year.  I can adjust the rate of “starter” fertilizer on my 2-row planter, and I will be planting corn only on old clover ground, so there should be enough free “fixed” nitrogen in the ground to make half-way decent corn yields.  
 

I have plenty of leftover corn seed and wheat from last year.  I also have plenty of gly, which I only apply directly on the corn rows.  I expect to spend less money on food plots this year, than I did last year.  
 

My goal with food plots is always the same - minimize the cost of boneless venison after subtracting all input costs.  I got under $ 1.00 per pound last year, and hope to do that again this year.  

I plan on a little white clover frost seeding, over at my folks place in the next few weeks, and a small, early fall wheat/oat/clover planting, with no fertilizer on any of it.
 

At home, my 4 acres of corn lasted thru February, so I know I used more fertilizer than I needed to last year.  I only need it to last until January 1.  I don’t care what the deer eat or where they go after that. 
 

Deer are extremely efficient users of corn.  The keys to making it last longer for them are: 1) Eradicate the local coons, which are the least efficient users of corn and the easiest of all furbearer to trap and kill.  2) Eradicate the weeds by spraying gly on the rows and cultivating in between.  I get 2 years out of 2.5 gallons of gly, on 4 acres of corn, using it this way.  
 

Last year, I bought (4) 50 lb bags of triple 15 fertilizer,  so this year I will buy just (2), if the cost is doubled.  I will also put in (4) acres of un-fertilized early fall plantings of wheat/white clover and oats/white clover, in the plots where I planted corn at home last year.

I am also going to try my first experiment with “minimum-tillage” this year, in effort to save some fuel and improve some bad soil.  There is crappy soil in a big part of my larger (2.5) acre corn plot from last year.  I am going to bush hog it after it dries up enough this spring.   I will then disk it lightly, in late May, and plant it with buckwheat.  In early September, I will broadcast wheat and white clover into the standing buckwheat and roll it over with a cultipacker.

 It will be interesting to see how that wheat/clover grows, compared to the spots where I use conventional tillage on good black dirt, prior to planting.  Nothing has ever grown worth a darn, in that crappy soil, so I can’t see where it could cause any harm.  
 

The state hauled in some bad dirt, to fill in an old creek bed that they rerouted back there, about 50 years ago.  I have good black dirt everywhere else, but that old creek bed is red sand.  
 

I won’t ever go full no-till, because that takes lots of herbicide, and I like to keep my venison as “organic” as I can.  

Edited March 6, 2022 by wolc123

[Nomad]

It’s been happening since the beginning  of last year . Here’s an article from last July .

https://blog.nationalbulkbag.com/produce-packaging/how-is-the-fertilizer-shortage-impacting-the-agriculture-industry

Edited March 6, 2022 by Nomad

[Nomad]

On 3/4/2022 at 2:15 PM, LET EM GROW said:

IT will be 2-3 times higher than last year. If you can find it. 

This is another good reason for people to get into no till and stop beating and scratching the soil. The air is full of fertilizer, the plants take this stuff in and by no tilling, you DO NOT disrupt the soils growing eco system. You plant big blends that feed soil and wildlife and you plant with the following planting season in mind as well, based off your seed blend.. Let Nature do the work for you.. And much of Fertilizer being used isnt used efficiently anyways and much of it evaporates or your soil cant even utilize what's applied.. 

No Till..  

the farm I hunt has been doing more and more ,no till beans the last few years . They also inject manure into the ground from the manure lagoon, through a series of hoses and pumps that seem to go on for 1/2 mile or more.

I don’t know much about farming practices, but,it’s what they’ve been doing the last few years .

[Jeremy K]

Guy at work just told me he spent 525 per ton last year ,this year he got a price of 1175 per ton . It really sucks that corporate greed is raising the prices so much...

[Five Seasons]

14 hours ago, Jeremy K said:

Guy at work just told me he spent 525 per ton last year ,this year he got a price of 1175 per ton . It really sucks that corporate greed is raising the prices so much...

do you honestly believe that? Do you not agree that the suspension on importing it from Russia is the cause, in addition to the labor and supply chain issues?

Would you not raise your prices with demand if you were a non-russian producer?

[Moho81]

We already decided not to use fertilizer this year due to the cost. We only plant for the animals so whatever happens happens at this point. 

[SpacemanSpiff]

Most of our fertilizers come from Russia. All chemical pricing for spray materials are up this year. My sister and I are buying everything up front this year, i was told everything will increase price wise throughout the summer. 

[UpStateRedNeck]

Picked up 600 lbs yesterday, it's up a bit from last year, but not exponentially so.

[Wildcat]

1 hour ago, UpStateRedNeck said:

Picked up 600 lbs yesterday, it's up a bit from last year, but not exponentially so.

Can you share where you got it?

[UpStateRedNeck]

9 hours ago, Wildcat said:

Can you share where you got it?

Agway in cobleskill, 400 # triple 19 200 of 0-20-20, 400$

[bigpaul]

Just picked up 10 50lbs. bags of 15-15-15 for $22 a bag. Didn’t think that was bad at all. I was going to buy it no matter what, I enjoy it way too much. That should get me through the year.