Crop News Weekly: Battling Fertilizer Prices

Spring may well be officially underway across the nation but late winter weather continues to hamper planting efforts in parts of the Upper Midwest. Farmer's hoping for an early start in corn & bean fields are anxiously awaiting and complain the longer they wait, the greater the risk of a slow crop year - at a time when a substantial crop is needed for a profitable year. But not all news is bad. Some argue that a later-than-usual start could result in a savings in material costs. Is that simply an optimistic outlook? Perhaps so - but what's the alternative?

In the news this week, fertilizer prices may be sporadic in parts of the country, but there are some things you can do to get the best deal. Also, there's some surprising news about fewer acres of soybeans this year than expected. Elsewhere, John Deere is making some corporate changes, and the administration's new Cuban policy has some cheering while others are concerned about the implications.

You'll find these stories and more in this issue of Crop News Weekly. Happy reading.

With fertilizer prices leading the way for increased farming input costs, farmers are looking for strategies that’ll help them maintain nutrient levels while keeping expenses at a minimum.

“Just two years ago, we were talking about $300-per-ton nitrate urea, and now it’s out of sight,” says Charles Mitchell, Auburn University soil fertility specialist. “Some fertilizer prices have dropped significantly since mid-summer of last year when we reached an all-time high. Urea was costing more than ammonium nitrate in our part of the country, and that has never happened before.”

The important thing for producers, is to look at the cost-per-pound of nutrient, says Mitchell. “Don’t worry about the cost per ton — look at the cost per pound. - Paul L. Hollis, Farm Press Editorial Staff

Maybe U.S. soybean farmers won’t be planting soybeans in every nook and cranny after all.

According to USDA’s March 31 Prospective Plantings report, U.S. farmers intend to plant 76 million acres of soybeans, compared to 79.2 million acres estimated by analysts; 84.99 million acres of corn, compared to 84.41 million estimated by analysts; and 58.63 million acres of wheat, compared to analysts’ projections of 58.6 million acres.

Dan Basse, an analyst with AgResource Co., speaking at the CME Group press briefing at the Chicago Board of Trade, says projected soybean acres were almost 4 million acres under what most analysts were thinking. - Elton Robinson Farm Press Editorial Staff

Deere & Company has announced a new global operating model that will combine the technology, expertise, experience, channels and investments of the Worldwide Agricultural Equipment Division and the Worldwide Commercial & Consumer Equipment Division into a single unit called the Worldwide Agriculture and Turf Division, effective May 1, 2009.

Through the new operating model, this combined organization will be positioned to achieve the alignment and efficiency necessary to develop a more complete portfolio to meet worldwide customer needs — while reducing overall costs.

Corn ethanol had a minimal impact on higher food prices in 2007-08, according to a study by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). The report, The Impact of Ethanol Use on Food Prices and Greenhouse-Gas Emissions, was released in April 2009.

National Corn Growers Association President Bob Dickey noted, “We applaud this report, the next chapter in a growing narrative that shows ethanol is not principally responsible for higher food prices despite what food companies have tried to make consumers believe during the past 12 to 18 months.

“The report found that the increased use of ethanol accounted for 0.5 to 0.8 percentage points out of the 5.1 percent increase in food prices between April 2007 and April 2008, representing 10 to 15 percent of total food price increases. - Elton Robinson, Farm Press Editorial Staff

The recent loosening of several trade and travel sanctions against Cuba has not produced a consensus of opinion for the Obama administration.

While U.S. agricultural interests — happy at the growing possibility of opening trade with Cuba in the near future — have been supportive of the move, some Obama supporters have knocked the new Cuba policy as too timid.

Others have derided the U.S. move as a reward to a despotic, Castro-led Cuban government. As a result of the policy changes, those living in the United States with relatives in Cuba are now allowed to visit them regularly. - David Bennett, Farm Press Editorial Staff

A few weeks ago, I was traveling through north Louisiana to a conference. As we neared Lake Providence, I couldn’t help but notice hundreds of parked rail cars.

Not long after that, I saw large numbers of shipping containers stacked in an open field in Memphis. (Memphis has an intermodal hub in which those containers can be moved from rail cars to trucks.)

This time last year, freight rates were through the stratosphere. Shipping containers were hard to come by. West Coast ports were so congested ships were having to wait weeks for their turn at the loading docks. - Forrest Laws, Farm Press Editorial Staff

Texas A&M University’s Agricultural Food Policy Center (AFPC) has developed a decision aid for producers considering the new farm program ACRE.

The ACRE Decision Aid provides cotton producers in every county a risk-based computer program for analyzing the ACRE decision.

The 2008 farm bill provided producers the opportunity to continue counter-cyclical payments (CCPs) that are triggered only by low prices or to switch to a revenue-based payment, referred to as the Average Crop Revenue Election (ACRE) payment, triggered by low prices, low yields or both.

A three-year study by the Crop Protection Research Institute has found that for every dollar spent by farmers on insecticides, $19 is returned.

“The Value of Insecticides in U.S. Crop Production” also claims that without insecticides 31 of the 50 crops surveyed would see yields drop 40 percent, or more. Seven of the crops would experience yield losses of over 70 percent.

“Consumers are being more selective with what they buy,” said Jay Vroom, chairman of CropLife Foundation (CPRI is the research branch of the foundation), during a recent press conference. - David Bennett, Farm Press Editorial Staff

In recent years, a virulent strain of stem rust called Ug99 has largely overcome resistances bred into the vast majority of the world’s wheat varieties.

Over the last decade, the wind-borne rust has moved east from Africa into Yemen and Iran and is expected to next hit Afghanistan, India and Pakistan. Researchers studying the stem rust say an epidemic would not only cause hunger in the developing world, but could move unstable countries onto even shakier political ground. - David Bennett, Farm Press Editorial Staff

EDITOR'S NOTE

FROM OUR EDITORS

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