milner79 said:

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normaleagle05 said:

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If y'all think fertilizer is expensive now just wait until Democrats start directly attacking fertilizer production due to its energy consumption (read, climate change). Thus aggravating an existing problem and completing the cycle of being Democrats.

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Democrats are full of fertilizer.

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As a Hay producer, the costs will be passed along to the consumer immediately. This differs from the commodities because I sell directly to the end user. I haven't been able to project what I will charge for Bermuda hay this year because inputs keep increasing.

Stock up on hay while you can. It's looking like a dry year to go along with high inputs.

The scary thing about this inflation is that even if you did the right things now to end it, it is still going to be around for the next year (transitional my ass). But with the Biden team in control they aren't going to do the right things to get it under control so this is very very concerning. I was thinking of retiring next year but you should never retire in times of high inflation.

China is limiting exports of phosphates. They are going to overgrow rice because of the Hog shortage. Russia and Ukraine are big Potash exporters. Natural gas prices are up so Nitrogen is up.

BQ78 said:

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The scary thing about this inflation is that even if you did the right things now to end it, it is still going to be around for the next year (transitional my ass). But with the Biden team in control they aren't going to do the right things to get it under control so this is very very concerning. I was thinking of retiring next year but you should never retire in times of high inflation.

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Raising interest rates would help cool it, but they won't do that because it increases debt.

agracer said:

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Funky Winkerbean said:

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What percentage is fertilizer in total production costs, say for corn?

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I asked this the last time we had this discussion on fertilizer costs but no one seemed to know.

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Fertilizer prices are the huge issue top of mind for farmers heading into 2022, because fertilizer costs account for about 15% of total cash crop costs in the US. All major crop-production nutrients have experienced increased prices when compared to September 2020, Ammonia has increased more than 210% for example and is the biggest gainer. Diesel Fuel accounts for about 10% of crop costs. Taxes 8% Irrigation 5%,

The $24 per acre corn projection compares to an average farmer return of $4 per acre from 2014 to 2020. The $150 soybean projection compares to an average of $88 per acre from 2014 to 2020 (see Figure 1). The projected higher returns in 2022 would occur because of higher-than-average corn and soybean prices.


https://farmdocdaily.illinois.edu/2021/07/2022-crop-budgets-contain-higher-costs.html

oscar9 said:

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As a Hay producer, the costs will be passed along to the consumer immediately. This differs from the commodities because I sell directly to the end user. I haven't been able to project what I will charge for Bermuda hay this year because inputs keep increasing.

Stock up on hay while you can. It's looking like a dry year to go along with high inputs.

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I have 100 extra bales from last season.


God help us all.

Fertilizer costs are up but commodities are also at all time highs. Professional farmers are doing very well, hobby farms maybe not so much.

1939 said:

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Fertilizer costs are up but commodities are also at all time highs. Professional farmers are doing very well, hobby farms maybe not so much.

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Meanwhile cattle bringing **** at the sale barn. All this inflation and cattle don't budge.

Iowafarmkid said:

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Long time lurker, first time poster. Family in southeast Texas and interned for an ag company southwest of Houston 10 years ago while in college.

I farm in Southern Iowa, raising corn, soybeans, and milo. The I states, (Illinois, Indiana, and Iowa) make up a huge % of the corn grown in the US. While current day fertilizer prices are incredibly high, what most articles don't talk about that in this region alot of our dry fertilizer (phosphate and potash) is applied in the fall after harvest along with a large % of our nitrogen needs in the form of anhydrous ammonia. Prices for last fall had doubled over what they were earlier that spring. For example, anhydrous for fall of 2021 was around $750/ton and had to be locked in late summer to get that price. I paid $495 a ton in the spring just a few months earlier. Potash was around 550 a ton and MAP (phosphate) was in the low 700s. In the fall of 2020, I paid 330 for potash and 430 for MAP.
For this spring, I just booked my spring anhydrous for some farm ground I picked up over the winter and it cost me 1500 a ton. So 3 times more than a year ago. I apply around 200# of actual nitrogen an acre so what cost me around 60 bucks an acre last spring will cost me 180 bucks this spring.

Here's a rough budget figuring for 175 bushel corn. Like I said, I farm in Southern Iowa which isn't as productive as central and Northern Iowa so we don't plan on as big of corn yields

Nitrogen - $180/acre
Phosphorous- $37.50/acre
Potash - $27.50/acre
Sulfur- $15/acre
Seed corn- $92/acre
Herbicide- $40/acre
Fungicide- $30/acre
Fuel - $20/acre
Crop insurance- $30/acre
Hail and wind insurance- $15/acre
Equipment cost - $40/acre (this cost varies greatly by grower, if they run new equipment or older and what kind of breakdowns)
Rent - $200/acre (this number gets bigger the better the ground is)
So it is going to cost me just shy of $750/acre to put the crop in. Prices today are currently around $6/bushel. Profits look to be good, but missing rain in July and August can greatly change this so there is alot more risk this year because production costs are double to triple.

Soybeans costs are roughly the same except take out the nitrogen cost and the seed cost goes from 92 to 66 bucks an acre. We go in to the year hoping to raise 55 bushel soybeans and can currently get $14/bushel for new crop. Some growers who don't have their nitrogen on are looking plant soybeans again on fields that had soybeans last year just because they are a little less risk and takes less money to raise. But there is usually a few bushel yield hit than raising soybeans that was planted after corn. We don't have the soils to raise corn on corn like they do in Central iowa so we are always in a rotation with corn and soybeans or milo and soybeans. (I plant milo on my tougher less productive soils because it takes less money and less risk and I have an end user lined up. There is very little milo grown in Iowa).
One thing I hate about these articles is we farmers have no say in the price we get. It changes daily on the board of trade. I have forward contracted some for fall at these prices, but you can't get carries away selling because if you don't get the right weather and don't raise enough crop to cover your contracts then you either have to buy out of them or buy grain off your neighbors to fill your contracts. I roughly have 30% sold ahead right now.
Chemicals are in short supply, still alot that hasn't been shipped to our retailers which is concern with planting about a month away.
Fertilizer for the most part is still available and hasn't seem to be a supply issue, just takes more money to buy it.
Parts are very hit and miss to get and new tractors and implements aren't in any better shape than the automotive industry with several things 6+ months out to get which has driven the used market way up. Hope this gives you all an idea of rough costs for a Midwest farmer.
Btw, you guys got screwed out of the tournament. I'm a huge hawkeye fan so hoping it's our year to make a run. Casual aggie fan with family who's graduated from aTm.

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Thanks for the information and support.

You said your costs will run $750/acre this year. I was interested if you have ballpark cost/acre average of the last few?

Iowafarmkid said:

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Long time lurker, first time poster. Family in southeast Texas and interned for an ag company southwest of Houston 10 years ago while in college.

I farm in Southern Iowa, raising corn, soybeans, and milo. The I states, (Illinois, Indiana, and Iowa) make up a huge % of the corn grown in the US. While current day fertilizer prices are incredibly high, what most articles don't talk about that in this region alot of our dry fertilizer (phosphate and potash) is applied in the fall after harvest along with a large % of our nitrogen needs in the form of anhydrous ammonia. Prices for last fall had doubled over what they were earlier that spring. For example, anhydrous for fall of 2021 was around $750/ton and had to be locked in late summer to get that price. I paid $495 a ton in the spring just a few months earlier. Potash was around 550 a ton and MAP (phosphate) was in the low 700s. In the fall of 2020, I paid 330 for potash and 430 for MAP.
For this spring, I just booked my spring anhydrous for some farm ground I picked up over the winter and it cost me 1500 a ton. So 3 times more than a year ago. I apply around 200# of actual nitrogen an acre so what cost me around 60 bucks an acre last spring will cost me 180 bucks this spring.

Here's a rough budget figuring for 175 bushel corn. Like I said, I farm in Southern Iowa which isn't as productive as central and Northern Iowa so we don't plan on as big of corn yields

Nitrogen - $180/acre
Phosphorous- $37.50/acre
Potash - $27.50/acre
Sulfur- $15/acre
Seed corn- $92/acre
Herbicide- $40/acre
Fungicide- $30/acre
Fuel - $20/acre
Crop insurance- $30/acre
Hail and wind insurance- $15/acre
Equipment cost - $40/acre (this cost varies greatly by grower, if they run new equipment or older and what kind of breakdowns)
Rent - $200/acre (this number gets bigger the better the ground is)
So it is going to cost me just shy of $750/acre to put the crop in. Prices today are currently around $6/bushel. Profits look to be good, but missing rain in July and August can greatly change this so there is alot more risk this year because production costs are double to triple.

Soybeans costs are roughly the same except take out the nitrogen cost and the seed cost goes from 92 to 66 bucks an acre. We go in to the year hoping to raise 55 bushel soybeans and can currently get $14/bushel for new crop. Some growers who don't have their nitrogen on are looking plant soybeans again on fields that had soybeans last year just because they are a little less risk and takes less money to raise. But there is usually a few bushel yield hit than raising soybeans that was planted after corn. We don't have the soils to raise corn on corn like they do in Central iowa so we are always in a rotation with corn and soybeans or milo and soybeans. (I plant milo on my tougher less productive soils because it takes less money and less risk and I have an end user lined up. There is very little milo grown in Iowa).
One thing I hate about these articles is we farmers have no say in the price we get. It changes daily on the board of trade. I have forward contracted some for fall at these prices, but you can't get carries away selling because if you don't get the right weather and don't raise enough crop to cover your contracts then you either have to buy out of them or buy grain off your neighbors to fill your contracts. I roughly have 30% sold ahead right now.
Chemicals are in short supply, still alot that hasn't been shipped to our retailers which is concern with planting about a month away.
Fertilizer for the most part is still available and hasn't seem to be a supply issue, just takes more money to buy it.
Parts are very hit and miss to get and new tractors and implements aren't in any better shape than the automotive industry with several things 6+ months out to get which has driven the used market way up. Hope this gives you all an idea of rough costs for a Midwest farmer.
Btw, you guys got screwed out of the tournament. I'm a huge hawkeye fan so hoping it's our year to make a run. Casual aggie fan with family who's graduated from aTm.

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SOLID ROOKIE POST

and kills the stock market.

Frankly, we've got an angry wolf by the ears, we can't let go but we can't keep holding on.

Thanks for your post. Gig'em hawkeye.

So looking at what it cost me to produce my 2021 corn crop.

Nitrogen - $60/acre
Phosphate - $21.50/acre
Potash - $16.50/acre
Sulfur- $10/acre
Seed corn - $85/acre
Herbicide- $33/acre
Fungicide- $25/acre
Fuel - $10/acre
Crop insurance - $22.50/acre
Hail insurance - $7.50/acre
Equipment- $30/acre
Rent - $170/acre.

So it cost me around $580/acre to put my corn crop in last year. Going in to last year before planting we were looking at corn around $4 to 4.25 a bushel and beans around 10 bucks. These production costs had been pretty similar the previous few years. For most of 2020, grain prices were in the mid to upper $3/bushel for corn and between $8 and 9 a bushel for soybeans.
Grain prices rose during the growing season last with the western corn belt experiencing a pretty bad drought. I sold corn anywhere between 4.25 a bushel to $6 a bushel. Soybeans I sold between $11.10 a bushel to when I cleaned the bins out two weeks ago for $16.50 a bushel.

These high prices are not good for ag long term. It drives all of our input, rent, and land prices higher and when prices do crash, these costs are very slow to come down. Makes for some lean or negative years when that happens and just hoped you managed and saved well enough when things were good to make it through those years. Not to different than the oil companies going through these highs and lows.

What county? I own part of a farm in Carroll and Crawford Counties.

After reading the thoughtful and informed posts concerning farming, I am more convinced than ever that Bloomberg was/is and continues to be a complete *******. And his beliefs are shared by the Democratic Party leadership, leftist progressives and legacy media, along with the elitist liberal minions.
Bloomberg: You Know, I Can Teach Anyone to Be a Farmer

Farming is big business, not overalls, tractors and chickens.

Don't be a stranger

Whoops, I forgot seed corn on that last one which was 85 bucks an acre last year, I will edit my post. Equipment costs vary greatly by grower. That is what my cost is on my farm, just paid my equipment note today. Now to go along with that, I do apply custom anhydrous ammonia for several neighbors and use that income to help pay for equipment so I dont have to borrow the money. We also custom harvest for several neighbors too. Have neighbors who run brand new stuff and their equipment costs would be closer to 100 bucks. Have other neighbors who run 20 to 30 year old stuff that is all paid for.
Now they should probably figure in repairs when they figure costs.. When things get tight, that's when these differences really come in to play. I run 15 to 20 year old equipment so my costs aren't as much. Now I don't get over the acres as fast and I don't have all the brand new technology either. Slowly working my way towards that though.

I farm in Appanoose, Davis, and Monroe county. I'm on the Missouri border. Wouldn't know what to do being able to farm dirt that's in Carroll and Crawford county.

$200/A land rent on 170 bushel average? Yikes! Is that irrigated at least? Cash lease for us dryland usually around $90. Irrigated closer to $150

No, we don't have irrigation in our area. But we are in a 35 inch rainfall area. Go in to central Iowa on the best soil and there are 300 to 400 an acre rents up there. You're looking at 230 to 250 bushel potential on those farms though

Do landowners pay themselves the rent on the land, or take the value as a deduction?