While the cost of fertilizer is dropping, it is still outrageously high. At these prices, it just does not pencil out for hay. Does anyone have a solution?
Fertilizer Prices
- Thread starter sstterry
- Start date
Help Support CattleToday:
mwj
Well-known member
Chicken litter, but you need to research the source. It will still not be cheap.
littletom
Well-known member
Buy the hay.
kenny thomas
Well-known member
What price are you quoted? All I get is wait, it's getting charged
Mat Man
Well-known member
19/19/19 w/ammonia quoted $679
kenny thomas
Well-known member
I would be happy with that price.
EasTex
Well-known member
I called Monday and nitrogen is $760/ton
BC
Well-known member
Remember, when you cut and bale hay you are removing nutrients from the field. You need to replace what you take out. It is like writing checks on an account and never making a deposit. What can you do? 1) extend your grazing season by stockpiling for late fall, 2) incorporate legumes for early spring grazing; 3) adjust your calving season to where you are trying to get cows rebred during the spring flush of grass; 4) soil test your hay meadows, get your pH right so that what fertilizer you do apply is most available to the plant. 1 & 2 will reduce your need for high priced hay.
kenny thomas
Well-known member
If we don't fertilize our hayland our grass gets less and less each year.
Silver
Well-known member
How is your organic matter there?
kenny thomas
Well-known member
Very low. Not a lot organic about a rock.
Stocker Steve
Well-known member
Depends on your skills and your profit goal:
1) If you are a high overhead DYI operation - - you need enough forage to cover your direct and OH costs. For me this was 3.1 tons/acre/year. You cannot afford to get cheap and harvest part of a crop. Question is how profitable is your high OH operation?
2) If you are a good cattle marketer - - you sell the haying equipment to buy some seasonal cattle, and then let them harvest the forage.
3) If you enjoy feeding - - you buy in hay and then unroll or bale feed it on the field to import fertility.
4) If you have a green thumb - - you can try to inter seed legumes or plant corn. Corn, beans, and Cancun boys have been doing well.
5) If you are a good networker and a good mechanic - - there is free stumpage in some areas.
Combination of the above...
You need more cows. Let the neighbor winter feed his cows on your land, if he doesn't have enough ask a few more neighbors. 300 cows fed for a winter on 40 acres will do wonders.
Named'em Tamed'em
Well-known member
I'm recycling about 75 yards of composted manure onto one pasture. Fertilizer is still spendy around here.
OP
OP
No actual prices quoted, but I have been watching the spot market.
- Joined
- Mar 18, 2015
- Messages
- 454
- Reaction score
- 304
Urea has gotten significantly cheaper at the ports in New Orleans. 335/ton but it's not being pushed up the river because the corps holding it are waiting on export buyers. We shall see.
It has gone down. Last year I paid $10,964.09 for 100 acres and this year it was $8,861.38 - including my $50 discount for paying within 10 days.
I have checked twice and still waiting for a price. It is either use it or cut back on number of head. With diesel prices, fertilizer, machinery, repairs, parts and all the other input costs I have never seen anything much more unfair when you see the retail price of what you are producing. Everybody along the process is getting good profits, but the people that do 90% of the work and takes the most chances. I don't see it getting any better. Farming is a hobby and a challenge to break even. People thinks farmers are rich.
SmokinM
Well-known member
I think that works great up there but here we don't get the snow and hard freeze to protect the ground. Put 300 on 40 acres and you get 40 acres 1' deep in mud at the end. It pugs the ground up so bad it takes 2 years for the vegetation to recover. You get to add a layer of organics above protected ground then the snow melt carries it to the soil. I wish it were that easy here, not that you don't have your own challenges!
