Rincker: Communicate with ag retailers
PONTIAC – It’s no secret supplies of fertilizer and chemicals will continue to be tight in 2022 which is why one crop specialist encourages growers to start having conversations with their retailers.
Kelsey Rincker with Evergreen FS in Chenoa hopes farmers have a plan of what they would like to apply for chemicals in the coming season. The short supply of Glyphosate and Glufosinate are drivers of a chemical cost increase. Residual products are also on the tight supply list this year due in part to the Olympics.
“Those are produced primarily out of China,” Rincker explained at the Livingston County Agronomy Day. “That region has halted a lot of production just for the Olympics.”
Fungicides are also expected to move very quickly for the coming season and it wouldn’t hurt to start conversations on insecticide needs. Customers can expect additional price fluctuations during the season, especially if products run out.
“As a whole, the chemical market has seen probably a five to 10 percent increase on products.”
Seed is the input which has seen the least amount of change compared to the others with a fairly sound supply. A growth has been observed industry-wide for double pro traits in corn.
Many factors surround the high fertilizer prices, according to Rincker. When natural gas prices skyrocket, this causes nitrogen to climb as well. COVID caused plants to close down which produce ammonia and other forms of nitrogen. Then Hurricane Ida hit, impacting imports coming in through the Mississippi River.
“Fertilizer is pulled from so many different regions across the globe,” Rincker explained.
Mosaic mines flooding in Canada during the spring of 2021 didn’t help matters for potash. This basically drove a big nail into the supply. In August 2021, the European Union and United States considered sanctions on Belarus near Russia for humanitarian reasons.
Corn and fertilizer prices were low in the summer of 2021 and production was slowed. Closer to fall, we saw markets rally.
Rincker sees production as a driving force behind the greatest return on investment on a farmer’s acreage. Sulfur is recommended through dry fertilizer with phosphates or a liquid form of it with ammonium thiosulfate, or ATS.
“We like to see 20 to 25 pounds of sulfur applied per crop,” Rincker said.
Fungicide is a product which is gaining traction in agriculture as fungicide acres are expected to climb over 2021. Tar spot was an issue for some growers last season with hot spots observed near Kankakee and McLean. This can be in the plant for weeks before symptoms are observed. More growers will likely test for tar spot in 2022.
Rincker believes a fungicide application at tasseling usually pays eight out of 10 years and soybeans are also seeing a great benefit from fungicide with a pass at the R2 or R3 growth stage.
Evergreen FS agronomy technology specialist Maddy Forney also addressed growers during the Livingston County Farm Bureau’s Agronomy Day, describing a new web-based app for scouting. Agtrinsic helps growers make application decisions and has disease modeling to give a better picture of what is happening with field health.
“We want to help you make application decisions in a timely manner throughout the season,” said Forney.
This is another tool in the toolbox for farmers to make real time decisions. Agtrinsic is primarily for Evergreen FS customers at this point and costs $6 per acre. It is offered through the company as part of an early order seed program as well.
Comments