uscitizen
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Jun 4, 6:23 AM EDT
High cost and demand for fertilizer scares farmers
By JAMES HANNAH
Associated Press Writer
DAYTON, Ohio (AP) -- Corn stalks normally dominate the fields of farmer Lyle McKanna. But this summer, leafy green soybean plants will swallow up more acreage than ever.
McKanna, who farms 800 acres near Lima, has replaced more than one-fourth of his corn crop with soybeans, which require far less fertilizer.
In part because of a global surge in demand, the price of fertilizer has skyrocketed 228 percent since 2000, forcing U.S. farmers to switch crops, cut back on fertilizer or search for manure as a substitute.
Wholesalers and retailers are scrambling to find and buy fertilizer and juggle what supplies they have to meet customers' needs. Between 2001 and 2006, global demand jumped 14 percent, an amount equivalent to the entire U.S. market, according to The Fertilizer Institute, a Washington D.C.-based trade group.
"We're trying to get as much as we can and get it into storage," said Joe Dillier, plant, food, markets manager for The GROWMARK System, a farm cooperative based in Bloomington, Ill. "It's hard to buy as much as you want forward because everyone sees that this price is going to continue to go up."
The price increase means the cost of fertilizing an acre of average-yield U.S. corn rose from about $30 to $160.
Mike Duffy, professor of economics at Iowa State University who closely tracks the costs of crop production, said the more expensive fertilizer might increase the price of sweet corn this summer. And if enough farmers change over to soybeans, it could cause some localized shortages of sweet corn and increase the price of corn in grain markets.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/F/FARM_SCENE_FERTILIZER_WOES?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=US
High cost and demand for fertilizer scares farmers
By JAMES HANNAH
Associated Press Writer
DAYTON, Ohio (AP) -- Corn stalks normally dominate the fields of farmer Lyle McKanna. But this summer, leafy green soybean plants will swallow up more acreage than ever.
McKanna, who farms 800 acres near Lima, has replaced more than one-fourth of his corn crop with soybeans, which require far less fertilizer.
In part because of a global surge in demand, the price of fertilizer has skyrocketed 228 percent since 2000, forcing U.S. farmers to switch crops, cut back on fertilizer or search for manure as a substitute.
Wholesalers and retailers are scrambling to find and buy fertilizer and juggle what supplies they have to meet customers' needs. Between 2001 and 2006, global demand jumped 14 percent, an amount equivalent to the entire U.S. market, according to The Fertilizer Institute, a Washington D.C.-based trade group.
"We're trying to get as much as we can and get it into storage," said Joe Dillier, plant, food, markets manager for The GROWMARK System, a farm cooperative based in Bloomington, Ill. "It's hard to buy as much as you want forward because everyone sees that this price is going to continue to go up."
The price increase means the cost of fertilizing an acre of average-yield U.S. corn rose from about $30 to $160.
Mike Duffy, professor of economics at Iowa State University who closely tracks the costs of crop production, said the more expensive fertilizer might increase the price of sweet corn this summer. And if enough farmers change over to soybeans, it could cause some localized shortages of sweet corn and increase the price of corn in grain markets.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/F/FARM_SCENE_FERTILIZER_WOES?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=US
