2008 Fertilizer Prices

[MoGal]

Got a list from the Coop Service Center and even these prices are subject to change:

Spring Prepay prices

DAP 18-46-0 $615 (0-30 tons)
TSP 0-46-0 $562
AM Nitrate 34-0-0 $455
Calc. AM Nitrate 27-0-0 $361.23
Am Sulfate 21-0-024S $350
Potash 0-0-60 $440

I was also told potash is gonna rise $80 ton between now and March 1st.

NH3 Anhydrous AM 82-0-0 $640


Don't look like hay or grain crops will go down in price anytime soon with these kind of prices.

 

[MoGal]

Those prices are for 0-30 tons.......... you can deduct $5.00 for each ton if you buy 31-50 tons then 51-99 tons then 100 + tons

DAP is $610 for 31-50 tons
$605 for 51-99 tons
$600 for 100+ tons


The Anhydrous AM did not change

 

[hurleyjd]

I have never seen a time that the farmers expense had anything to with the price of what his commodity brings. You may know something that I do not. I have to get what any one is offering for it, such as the calf buyer sets the price. Also the hay buyer, the more hay you have the cheaper it is the less you have means you can get more for it. I have been thinking very seriously as to selling all the cows and also the equipment. Maybe put all of the pastures in trees and say screw it and live the rest of my life not doing much of any thing as far as hay or cows. $2500 to $3000 per acre land cannot justify the $1.00 lb claves. Just my rambling, and may not justify trees either. $3000 an acre land would have to generate a clear $120 to beat a CD.

 

[SRBeef]

As farmers we typically have been middle men with no control over our input costs and no control over our selling prices (as most folks have done it). When we truck grain to the elevator at harvest or cattle to the sale barn and we have to sell, why is anyone going to offer any more than a rock bottom price???

Rather than giving up, maybe you should take some land into soybeans this year. Minimal fertilizer or other inputs required and you can today lock in a decent selling price on at least a portion of your crop.

If you are not in an area where beans are feasible then look at getting some more control on your cattle selling prices.

The way they teach folks in business school is that you set prices by what the market will bear, not by what it costs.

They also teach that you should buy low and sell high. Not rocket science. We try to do it with cattle too.

I would not get discouraged, just look for opportunities to widen your margin by switching to a crop where you can lock in a profit, or change your operation to reduce your input costs, or sell a higher level product such as finish some high value cattle or ...

It is never easy, at least for long. Find a system which you enjoy and can survive on. No one said we were going to get rich. There are more important things. Best of luck to you.

 

[MoGal]

Hurley: I wasn't trying to discourage you by any means, it was mostly a headsup as to what is coming.

Perhaps you could sew grains as I read on chinaview.cn that starting 1/08 China is putting export tariffs on their grains to lower prices for their own country, 25percent on wheat and wheat products, 10 percent on corn. So they won't be exporting as much and Australia has had drought.

Yes I realize pasture ground is not always the same quality as crop land.
Perhaps its time more beef producers starting contacting their congressional leaders to complain about imported beef driving the American producer out of business. Because you are correct, at a $1 lb there's less leeway for mistakes and we can't afford for the fats to drop down to Australian or Brazil prices.

 

[alabama]

That is out ragus.
I need to start calling now to get hay prices for next year. I can't pay that for fert. I better just buy hay.

 

[hurleyjd]

Hey, I am not a bit discouraged, just tired of fooling with cows and land. Soybeans do not grow in this area. All of the land I have is marginal at most, I have improved the pastures as well as any one else. I need to find something to occupy my time that takes less work and is more fun. I do not golf, fish or hunt and I am to old to chase women and if I was younger I would not do the chasing because of fear. Fear of what the wife I live with would do to me if I was caught. So any suggestions as what to do with the rest of my life would be appreciated. Length could be long short or in between no one knows the answer to that.

 

[Stocker Steve]

Hey, I am not a bit discouraged, just tired of fooling with cows and land. Soybeans do not grow in this area. All of the land I have is marginal at most, I have improved the pastures as well as any one else. I need to find something to occupy my time that takes less work and is more fun. I do not golf, fish or hunt and I am to old to chase women and if I was younger I would not do the chasing because of fear. Fear of what the wife I live with would do to me if I was caught. So any suggestions as what to do with the rest of my life would be appreciated. Length could be long short or in between no one knows the answer to that.

Time to take a long vacation. Start thinking about what you like to do with your life about the third week. Some folks make a list of what they enjoy and what they don't enjoy and who can provide encouragement. We all need purpose and positive feedback.

 

[grannysoo]

Hey, I am not a bit discouraged, just tired of fooling with cows and land. Soybeans do not grow in this area. All of the land I have is marginal at most, I have improved the pastures as well as any one else. I need to find something to occupy my time that takes less work and is more fun. I do not golf, fish or hunt and I am to old to chase women and if I was younger I would not do the chasing because of fear. Fear of what the wife I live with would do to me if I was caught. So any suggestions as what to do with the rest of my life would be appreciated. Length could be long short or in between no one knows the answer to that.

If you're tired of doing it, then you have your answer. Get out and do something different. No one knows how long life will be, and no one but you truely knows what you want to do with it.

Good luck.

 

[somn]

18-46-0 DAP costs $494.00
0-0-60 Potash costs $295.00
32-0-0 UAN costs $298.00
Al prices per ton.

 

[spoon]

Hurleyjd. Here's what I do in my spare time.

Now if that doesn't look like your idea of fun go buy you an old vechile of your choice and rebuild it. I took one that was a beater and with the help of friends turned it into this.

A word of caution, both are addictive and expensive.

 

[somn]

18-46-0 DAP costs $494.00
0-0-60 Potash costs $295.00
32-0-0 UAN costs $298.00
All prices per ton.

Forgot to add the $3.00 per acre application fee.

 

[MoGal]

Somn, those prices are definitely better than here.

Anybody else checked on prices lately?

 

[kickinbull]

Our neighbors grow organic veggies, and sell USDA inspected meat. They are paid simular to a subscription in the beginning of the year, which they have to budget for the whole year. In return their people get a basket of veggies delivered every saturday.Thanksgiving turkey's are $50. And they sell them all.

Seems to be a lot better than the way I farm, grow it, then what do you give me. We have a small dairy.

 

[rockridgecattle]

predictions are $1000.00 a tonne here. For 11-52 I think. Right now pwople are locking it in or pre buying at $800.00 a tonne

 

[somn]

predictions are $1000.00 a tonne here. For 11-52 I think. Right now pwople are locking it in or pre buying at $800.00 a tonne

I will need to check a price on MAP but I don't think it is anywhere that high here. I could maybe buy it here and haul it to you for the difference.

 

[hurleyjd]

Got a list from the Coop Service Center and even these prices are subject to change:

Spring Prepay prices

DAP 18-46-0 $615 (0-30 tons)
TSP 0-46-0 $562
AM Nitrate 34-0-0 $455
Calc. AM Nitrate 27-0-0 $361.23
Am Sulfate 21-0-024S $350
Potash 0-0-60 $440

I was also told potash is gonna rise $80 ton between now and March 1st.

NH3 Anhydrous AM 82-0-0 $640

Don't look like hay or grain crops will go down in price anytime soon with these kind of prices.

I found out last year that soil testing really pays with the price of fertilizer. You know just exactly what you need. So now is the time to get the testing done and be ready for the grass season. We are really grass farmers instead of cow producers. All the cow is is the harvesting machine and processor of the grass.

 

[gulfso]

17-17-17 is $440 a ton here in South Alabama

 

[GMN]

That is out ragus.
I need to start calling now to get hay prices for next year. I can't pay that for fert. I better just buy hay.

This is the dilemma though, to make good quality hay worth buying, the hay people always fertilize to get the optimum bales per acre. If they have to spend more on diesel and fertilizer, you can bet they will charge more per bale also. This is what has been going on around here for the last 2 years, and with the high cost of fuel and fertilizer, we won't see hay for $20-$25 a bale anytime soon. Makes me really wonder how anyone who needs to buy hay can keep going. Dairy people or beef.

We planted some koolgrazer rye in September and bought a ton of triple 17, I thought it would be about $300 a ton, unfortunately it was $467 a ton, no way will we be fertilizing this spring, just not feasible at those kind of prices.

GMN

 

[Cowdirt]

$3000 an acre land would have to generate a clear $120 to beat a CD.

My experience with land is; appreciation is the great value of the investment. How much was land in your area selling for 10 yrs ago? Might want to think twice before putting that investment in a CD. JMHO