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Soaring
Costs Force Farmers to Evaluate Expenditures
Auburn, Feb. 21---Many
Alabama farmers are reviewing their budgets for the coming season
because of rising fertilizer costs and other expenses.
 The
University of Missouri's Food and Agricultural Policy Research
Institute says the cost of fuel that farmers need for tractors,
combines and irrigation equipment jumped 31 percent last year.
Prices may drop slightly in coming months, but growers are expected
to be hit this year with a 33 percent increase in fertilizer costs,
the report said. The higher nitrogen fertilizer prices are
associated with the large price increases in natural gas, which is
used in the nitrogen fertilizer manufacturing process.
Fertilizer costs are a
significant portion of costs for farmers growing forage grasses says
Dr. Don Ball, a forage agronomist with the Alabama Cooperative
Extension System.
"Even prior to the
recent increases in fertilizer costs, 20 to 40 percent of the costs
in our forage production budgets are associated with nitrogen
fertilizer," says Ball. "Higher fertilizer costs will cut
significantly into producers' potential profits."
More open land in
Alabama is devoted to pasture and hay production than all other
agronomic and horticultural crops combined. In 1999, about 800,000
acres were harvested for hay, generating a production value of more
than $100 million.
Corn is another crop
that needs large amounts of nitrogen to produce at profitable
levels.
"Fertilization with
adequate levels of nitrogen is required for good corn grain
production," says Dr. Paul Mask, an Extension specialist in
corn and small grains. "The cost of nitrogen is the largest
single variable cost in corn production. No other element produces
such large and consistent increases in corn yield. "
Nitrogen accounts for 25
to 30% of the variable cost in corn production.
While it does not have
the heavy nitrogen demands of forage grasses and corn, cotton, the
state's leading row crop in cash receipts, does need adequate
fertilization to produce its best yields.
Max Runge, an Extension
agricultural economist, says nitrogen fertilizers account for about
10 percent of variable costs in Extension's 2001 cotton production
budget.
But farmers do have a
variety of management options that can help them reduce fertilizer
costs.
Ball says some forage
producers can fertilize fields with alternative sources of
nutrients, including broiler litter.
"Broiler house
litter is a good option if the farmer can get it at a reasonable
price and can apply it in reasonable amounts," says Ball.
Charles Burmester, an
Extension cotton agronomist at the Tennessee Valley Regional
Research and Extension Center, says broiler litter is also a good
choice for cotton farmers in north Alabama.
"The poultry
industry is concentrated in north Alabama and almost 200,000 acres
of cotton are planted each year in that region as well," says
Burmester. "Those cotton acres offer a potential use for the
litter. By using litter, farmers could lower cotton production costs
as well as provide a more environmentally friendly means of
disposing of litter."
Burmester says broiler
litter may also be a good option for cotton producers in south
Alabama where the poultry industry is expanding.
Mask notes that interest
in precision farming is higher as well, possibly because of higher
crop input costs. In precision farming, on-board computers on
tractors make use of global positioning satellites and other
technologies to apply fertilizers in customized applications. This
allows farmers to apply fertilizers and other resources to areas
where they will generate the most income.
Because diesel fuel and
gasoline prices remain high, farmers also face higher costs to plant
and work their crops this year.
This may make
conservation tillage growing systems more attractive to the state's
farmers, says Dr. Dale Monks, an Extension crop physiologist.
"In conservation
tillage systems, farmers avoid disturbing the soil in their fields
any more than necessary. Instead, they leave the plant materials
from the recently harvested crop in the field," says Monks.
"These systems reduce the number of trips equipment make
through the field, saving fuel, labor and time while reducing
machinery wear."
Farmers who have
questions about fertilizer options and other production questions
should contact their county Extension office.
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