Updated: Jan 11, 2008 02:55 AM More News Headlines Underwood trial delayed, no money for defense attorneys 2008 Lee Co. budget preparations underway, will firefighters get more manpower? Students relocate, school tries to keep up Two month old found badly beaten Bring that Picture ID to the voting booth Judge Gray opines on lethal injection Furniture stolen from storage locker Municipal court judge plans to run for superior court Fertilizer prices likely to skyrocket Underwood murder trial delayed again
By Alan Mauldin, Thomasville Enterprise
THOMASVILLE - Farmers facing high costs for diesel fuel and predictions of drier-than-normal weather can add a significant boost in fertilizer prices to their list of challenges for 2008. Officials estimate that prices might increase as much as 50 percent this year due to rising costs of natural gas, the main ingredient in nitrogen, and increased export demand. Thomas County farmer Jim Rayburn said he will try to reduce fertilizer use as much as he can, possibly by planting a few more peanuts - which require less than cotton and corn. "You're just going to have to follow your soil samples," he said. "You really can't cut too many corners, but you've got to try the best you can. I imagine as long as gas goes up, your fertilizer is going to go up." Rayburn said he will not alter his planting strategy a great deal because if too many people bet heavily on peanuts the price farmers receive will decline. "Just, hopefully, we'll see the commodity prices go up enough to offset it," he said of the fertilizer prices. "That's not usually what happens." Rayburn also uses chicken litter on about a third of his cotton crop, but he said he is not sure whether there is any appreciable savings over commercial products. Wendell Quick at Coolidge Fertilizer said that government regulations on ammonium nitrate and the price of natural gas are behind the jump in nitrogen prices. Those causes are not behind the increase for pot ash and phosphate, which has increased by $100 per ton since late November, Quick said. "The driving force behind that increase is export demand, world demand," Quick said. "We're in a world market situation, and I think we're going to continue to be. World demand is going to set your price." Phospate is up even more, jumping from $230 a ton last year to $600 this year. Quick predicted overall increases for fertilizer to be in the 40 percent range, but added that could be a conservative estimate and the actual increase could be more. Much of the world's fertilizer is produced in Canada and the United States, he said. "You've got high costs in everything the grower touches," Quick said. "Everything pertaining to agriculture is on the rise, your labor, your inputs, everything." The use of chicken litter will not affect the company's business because, despite the concentration of chicken houses in south Georgia, there is a limited supply of the material, Quick said. Poultry producers probably have takers for their litter, so there is little if any excess supply out there, Thomas County extension agent R. J. Byrne said. The cost is about the same as commercial fertilizers. The good news is that some commodity prices are up somewhat in recent months, Byrne said. Peanuts, which were selling for $420-$475 per ton in October, are now in the range of $500-$550. The Associated Press reported Monday that soybean futures were down after reaching their highest levels since 1973 last week at more than $12.60 a bushel. Soybeans are another crop that has lighter fertilizer needs than others like cotton, corn and wheat, Byrne said. Growers looking to cut expenses may look at those, especially considering the current prices being offered. "You're probably looking at some more shifting to soybeans and peanuts primarily," he said. "The prices have gone up quite a bit. Hopefully we'll see prices on the farm gate increase as well and offset the fertilizer cost."
