Exploding Costs Require Farmers to Grow Smarter BY NOEL GARCIA, CCA – Chief Operating Officer & Senior Consultant, TPS Lab
W
hile farmers have always had to carefully manage input costs, 2020 ushered in a new era of even more daunting problems of which every farmer is now painfully aware. And indications are that all costs and other problems will continue to escalate for the foreseeable future. Farmers had already been trimming seed and chemical expenses since 2016, now they must determine where there may be some more room to cut further. Unfortunately, many start cutting in areas that affect overall production such as fertilizer, chemicals, consultants, and testing. This will undoubtedly lead to a decrease in yields with the current high expenses resulting in a poor return on investment. Cutting input costs that lower yields is a very poor choice when trying to solve the cost price squeeze. Maximum Economic Yields (MEY) come from spreading fixed costs over high yields to lower the unit costs of production. As fertilizer prices increase, increasing crop yields offers more opportunities than reducing traditional methods of fertilizer applications to increase profits. Fertilizer prices are skyrocketing, slamming farmers already buckling under the strain of rising costs. Monoammonium Phosphate (MAP) and Diammonium phosphate (DAP) increased from $250/Ton in June 2020 to over $700/Ton in October 2021. Urea was averaging $250/Ton in January 2019 to over $600/Ton in October 2021.
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More than any time before, farmers can’t afford to guess about fertilizer use. TPS Lab’s Ask The Plant® program including Plant Natural® Soil test and Ask The Plant® Sap Analysis provide precision answers. These tests can net out huge savings in fertilizer costs by using only the amounts needed by the crop. Following the “4 ‘R’s” of Nutrient Stewardship provides a framework to achieve cropping systems goals, such as increased production, increased profitability, enhanced environmental protection and improved sustainability. To achieve these goals farmers must apply the Right Fertilizer source at the Right Rate, at the Right Time and in the Right Place. The implementation of Best Management Practices (BMP) that optimize the efficiency of fertilizer use is also a requirement. Fertilizer BMP must match nutrient supply with crop targets to minimize nutrient losses from fields. Efficiency of fertilizer recovery (how much of the nutrient applied did the plant actually take up?) can be greatly improved by balanced soil fertility and use of biological inoculants, bio-stimulants such as organic acids and hormones that improve physiological actions of plants. TPS Lab’s Ask The Plant® fertility program can dramatically improve the applied fertilizer efficiency while decreasing input costs (Range from 15 – 40% reduction in this time of high fertilizer costs), improving yields and return on investment. Sustainable long-term profitability starts with topsoil and subsoil analysis (Plant Natural® Soil Test) that is truly calibrated to actual plant uptake.
