Ouch!!! Fertilizer prices.........

[Robert_in_NY]

I wonder how corn & soybean prices are going to play into the hay market -- if at all. Ive heard that currently 'fallow' acreage is going to be converted. If that 'fallow' ground is making hay then even less will be available for deficit areas like mine. Then again w/ the cost of shipping that might not even play into the equation. Any ideas?

They are predicting possilbe $6 corn and $12 beans this year. I know I am going to plant corn and beans this year and maybe a 6 acre hay field. But with the horse market in decline and the potential prices for corn and beans it doesn't make sense for me to put any more new hay fields in just yet. I am going to put more vines in also as I make a lot more money with a vineyard then I do with hay. I will still do hay as long as I can but I will be changing to a standard rotation between corn, beans and hay.

 

[flusher]

There will be no more cheap hay in the Carolinas, KY, TN, GA & AL. Because of the drought there are not hay stocks left. Now production costs of hay has increased dramatically and demand will be at a premium you can expect 4x5 round bales to start in the $50 range for grass hay. Small square bales of grass hay will bring in the $8.00 range this summer. I have seen small square alfalfa bales sell for $20 each this winter. Fertilizer looks cheap at $660 a ton when 5x5 round bales are bring $100 each now.

Small bale alfalfa is $13 now here in the North Valley.

We've had about 9" rainfall since 1 Jan so far with more on the way this week. Good news for the hay farmers.

Although my neighbor's alfalfa is not doing so well. Talked to him yesterday. He had the Brillion seeder out and started to overseed 20 acres. That has to hurt.

 

[HayDR]

Small bale alfalfa is $13 now here in the North Valley.

We've had about 9" rainfall since 1 Jan so far with more on the way this week. Good news for the hay farmers.

Although my neighbor's alfalfa is not doing so well. Talked to him yesterday. He had the Brillion seeder out and started to overseed 20 acres. That has to hurt.

I hope your neighbor knows the effects of alfalfa autotoxicity. The mature plants put toxins in the soil will kill new seed and or reduce the plant's effectiveness when introduced into a mature stand.
http://www.uwex.edu/ces/crops/uwforage/AlfalfaTox-FOF.htm

 

[flusher]

I hope your neighbor knows the effects of alfalfa autotoxicity. The mature plants put toxins in the soil will kill new seed and or reduce the plant's effectiveness when introduced into a mature stand.
http://www.uwex.edu/ces/crops/uwforage/AlfalfaTox-FOF.htm

Thanks. I'll ask him, but I think he knows about that problem.

 

[Gooseneck]

I paid $120 for a 50# sack of orchard grass seed last September. That same 50# sack now costs $185.

 

[slowzuki]

I've only got about 500 squares left and about 50 4x4 rounds. People complaining at 3$ a bale delivered to their loft and can't sell the rounds at any price. The squares are good quality hay. The rounds are good dry, stored proper but lots of weeds, been giving them away to a woman feeding an old workhorse just to get rid of em.

Too much money to ship em anywhere.

There is a local retired farmer still selling hay at 1.50$ a bale. I'm thinking of buying his last few thousand out and raising the price cause everyone quotes his price when buying elsewhere. I hope he leases out his land for corn this year...

 

[jimg]

I paid $120 for a 50# sack of orchard grass seed last September. That same 50# sack now costs $185.

I pre-bought my og seed last month @ a bit under $140/50# bag and was told next crop (this fall) was going to almost dbl in price!!! Forget what I was quoted on the Teff but I think it was in the $120ish/50# range.

 

[mark.r]

I put out 175lbs. of seed today. I paid $69.99/25lb. bag. I used the following mix "Horse Paddock Mix":

27.59% Benchmark Orchardgrass
19.98% Polim Perennial Ryegrass
19.77% Kentucky Bluegrass
14.97% Select Tall Fescue
9.96% Clair Timothy
4.99% Will Landino Clover

and the following "Horse Pasture Mix":

27.80% Benchmark Plus Orchardgrass
24.97% Polim Tertaploid Perennial Ryegrass
24.81% Kentucky Bluegrass
15.00% Derby Timothy
3.26% Will Landino Clover

 

[jwcinpk]

Prices I was quoted here:
$2.99 a pound for OG. $3 a pound for red clover. $3.99 for Ledina clover. $1.21 pound for OG 31 Fescue mix (6% OG).
Looks like it's gonna cost me around $1500 for the seed I need this year.

 

[jimg]

slowzuki,
>>Too much money to ship em anywhere.
Not so long ago plenty of CDN hay was going S of the border. I think thats not so much the case anymore. With fuel prices the way they are markets have gotten a bit more local. Thats good if youre in a hay deficit area, bad otherwise.

>>There is a local retired farmer still selling hay at 1.50$ a bale. I'm thinking
>>of buying his last few thousand out and raising the price cause everyone
>>quotes his price when buying elsewhere. I hope he leases out his land for
>>corn this year...
Given input costs where you are what should the price be?

 

[Kessler Farms]

Due to the weather, I finally got 5 buggies of fertilizer spread yesterday. I buy my fertilizer in November, so pre-pay costs for me are $405/ton for Ammonium Nitrate, $530/ton for DAP, and $360/ton for Muriate of Potash. All told, it's about 30% higher than my '07 fertilizer.

 

[mark.r]

Due to the weather, I finally got 5 buggies of fertilizer spread yesterday. I buy my fertilizer in November, so pre-pay costs for me are $405/ton for Ammonium Nitrate, $530/ton for DAP, and $360/ton for Muriate of Potash. All told, it's about 30% higher than my '07 fertilizer.

When you guys say you buy your fert. in advance or pre-pay, do you actually have to take delivery of it and store on location or are you simply fronting the money to the dealer only to pick it up the following season when you are ready to use it?

 

[Kessler Farms]

I pay in November, and pickup/spread in late Feb., March. You do not take delivery or store fertilizer.

As an example: The first buggy I spread yesterday cost me $1624.14. That same buggy if actually purchased on 3/13/08 would have cost $2510.06. That's a huge increase from Nov. to March. This allows the supplier to pre-pay at a contracted price in the Fall as well.

 

[mark.r]

I pay in November, and pickup/spread in late Feb., March. You do not take delivery or store fertilizer.

Thanks. My reason for asking was that when I got my soil test back and found out how much fert. I needed and what the price was going to be, the guy at the Southern States/Co-Op said that the price was only good until 2/23/07 and that the price would probably be going up (this was beginning of Feb.) I said Ok, no problem, I'm not going to spread until second week of March but can I pay for it now and come back and pick it up in a couple of weeks. For some reason that idea didn't fly with them.

 

[pengs68]

I pay in November, and pickup/spread in late Feb., March. You do not take delivery or store fertilizer.

As an example: The first buggy I spread yesterday cost me $1624.14. That same buggy if actually purchased on 3/13/08 would have cost $2510.06. That's a huge increase from Nov. to March. This allows the supplier to pre-pay at a contracted price in the Fall as well.

How do you like your NH 7610S? I have been looking at some used ones. I like that tractor a lot.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

How do you like your NH 7610S? I have been looking at some used ones. I like that tractor a lot.

contact Soundguy about his also. He uses his 7610s for pulling a 15' brush cutter in Florida.

 

[Kessler Farms]

I like my 7610S pretty well, but honestly I'm a John Deere guy. My Dad bought the 7610 in 98, when he died in 04, I inherited the tractor. It pulls my NH 678 roller OK, but on these hills, I could use more. Two things I do not like about... the hydraulic pump is underpowered, the lift weight is lower than my JD 5403 and the loader is slow; #2- it runs just shy of hot when under heavy load and has since new, the radiator is small and stacked with the oil cooler. Right now it has 2400 hrs. on it and won't be replaced anytime soon. Overall, it has been a good machine, and it looks good. It looks like the older style tractors with the long frontend.

 

[pengs68]

Thanks. Good info. I am a few years away from purchasing a new tractor. Starting my research now. I drove one around the dealer lot I believe it was a 1998 also but an orchard had it and beat it up pretty good. I like the pto HP for the equipment I would run.

 

[jimg]

>>Due to the weather, I finally got 5 buggies of fertilizer spread yesterday.
Im surprised since you all have had significant rain just like down here in TN. My fields have been way too wet to have machinery running over them. Guess you must have good drainage there!

YOu all sure have taken good care of the 7610...looks practically new!

>>Ok, no problem, I'm not going to spread until second week of March but can
>>I pay for it now and come back and pick it up in a couple of weeks. For
>>some reason that idea didn't fly with them.
Odd...I thought that was SOP for large co-ops. The one where I trade doesnt have a prob w/ the pre-pay, pick up later concept.

 

[Kessler Farms]

As to the condition of the 7610, all of my equipment is stored inside, and we wash and wax all of the tractors about 4 times per year. And yes, it was quite wet Thursday, and I could only spread on hay fields. None of my pasturefields have been fertilized yet. Don't look like it will happen this week either.