Fertilizer bids

I have been working on fertilizer bids today. Our new farm needs seven nutrients out of the 17 known to be important to plant growth.

I went over the soil test results, tissue test results and harvest yields and conditions to try and determine what to invest for next year's crop.

The first bid came in at $116.30 per acre. I guess that is not too bad considering the increasing fertilizer prices and not putting down more than I need. I need to help the corn residue breakdown to release more nutrients by springtime.

We also got our seed wheat in and stacked and ready for planting which should happen in the next week or two. All I need is my SabrEx seed treatment to put on the seed as it made 14 bushels more per acre this year. It controls root diseases that well.

This would be the tenth crop in eight growing years on that field. The best thing about wheat is I can hold the soil in place and build a crop I can take to the market or kill and plant back to corn or soybeans. The market is so strong, every market is asking for more acres.

Cotton even hit a 15 year high so every commodity is getting the farmer's attention for acres. I guess you go what you are best suited for that keeps in you rotation and keeps the pests at bay.

This corn market could hit $6 and it hasn't done that in a long time, either. Soybeans were $15 not too many years ago so it has a ways to go. I don't think the wheat will get back to $10 like it did a few years ago, though. That demand quickly slowled down when it got to $7 but corn and soybeans have not.

It's a nice pickle to be in.


Ed