Ottumwa Courier, IA
02/02/06
Rising costs concern farmers
By Scott Niles
OTTUMWA COURIER (OTTUMWA, Iowa)
Area farmers and ag specialists are concerned that increased fertilizer and fuel
costs will hurt them during the upcoming planting season.
With several factors undetermined for the season such as grain prices and other
associated costs, the threat lies with the concern rests with fertilizer and fuel.
Iowa State University Extension Crop Specialist Mark Carlton of Monroe
County said these will be major factors in the production of crops this year,
especially corn.
He said fertilizer products have gone up $100 or more per ton since last year,
raising the production cost anywhere from $20 to $30 more per acre just for
fertilizer.
Brian Fullenkamp, manager of Golden Furrow Fertilizer in Eldon, said even his
company is frustrated at the hikes.
“Anhydrous ammonia is up around $130 more per ton than last year at this time,”
he said.
The retailers’ prices are subject to forces out of their control.
“We are frustrated about the prices too because it creates a pressure on the
whole agriculture industry,” Fullenkamp said.
He said part of the dramatic increase in the fertilizer products comes from the
hike in fuel costs over the past year.
Cost of fuel going up, he said, has forced a lot of manufacturers to close down
their plants temporarily and has lowered the number of producers supplying the
product.
“This is worldwide,” he said.
The cost of fuel in the production of the fertilizer itself also has been a
contributing factor to the increase in product prices.
Carlton said fuel prices alone are another concern that farmers will have to deal
with in the upcoming crop season.
“Fuel prices affect almost every aspect of agriculture. Producers have to ship
fertilizer from Canada or Florida and it takes fuel to ship it in here. Then we
consider the fuel just to put the crops in, planting, tilling and combining. That all
increases [farmers’] production costs. Then [farmers] have fuel costs of taking
the crops from farms to elevators,” he said.
It all adds into the formula, he said.
Carlton said there is a way for farmers to get the most out of their fertilizer
products.
“They can use it wisely and the way you would do that is take a soil test and
check and see what amount of crop nutrients you have in your field,” he said.
“There are some farmers out there that might not need any fertilizer or a minimal
amount.”
County extension offices offer information on how farmers can do a soil test and
how they can check their results to see how much fertilizer they need to replenish
the soil.
“They have information that will tell them how to best utilize their fertilizer dollars,”
Carlton said. “Every crop requires nutrients, but over the years [farmers] may
have put more nutrients on the fields and they may have adequate amounts in
the soil still.”
Fullenkamp added that although fertilizer prices have gone up, crop protection
products have remained steady.
With grain prices and other undetermined factors not yet known, he said this
could still turn out to be a good season for growing corn.
“If yields are high and we get a good price out of crops we could still be
profitable, even if costs are high. But if things go the other way it could be not so
good,” Carlton said.
Scott Niles writes for the Ottumwa (Iowa) Courier. – Also ran in: News Courier,
AL