Nitrogen

Farmers Move Away from Fall-Applied Anhydrous

Fri, 13 Nov 2020 06:04:46 GMT

Farmers’ shift away from fall application of nitrogen for crops such as corn and sorghum is being reflected in changing retail practices, says Farm Journal Field Agronomist Ken Ferrie. “In my area of central Illinois, I know two fertilizer plants that have completely dropped anhydrous ammonia,” he says. “Their sales had shifted to spring application of nitrogen solution. While ammonia can be applied in the spring, farmers found it took up too much of their time when they needed to concentrate on planting, compared to nitrogen solution that can be applied as they plant or with herbicides.”

Traditionally, farmers have applied nitrogen in the fall because they feared they could not get over all their acres in the spring, especially if rainy weather set in. But that, like the climate that now keeps soil warm later into the fall, has changed, Ferrie says.

“When you consider all the options now available—spring preplant, with the planter, high-clearance, late-season application—you don’t need to bottleneck all your nitrogen into one time period,” Ferrie continues. “Worries about getting all your nitrogen applied in the spring really don’t reflect reality anymore. When I see farmers transition a few fields away from fall application, most of them soon decide they can do the same thing on their entire farm.”

Price is not necessarily an obstacle to shifting away from fall application, Ferrie adds. “Some years, you can purchase liquid nitrogen fertilizer in the fall for application next spring cheaper than you can buy anhydrous ammonia for fall application,” Ferrie says. “Retailers can’t store large amounts of anhydrous ammonia; but they can buy nitrogen solution in large volume, store it in tanks and pass the savings on to their customers.”

Stop and Rethink Fall Nitrogen Application Timing

Fri, 13 Nov 2020 05:56:40 GMT

With a fast-pace harvest season across the Corn Belt, more farmers were eager to move forward with fall applications of nitrogen (N.)

Some farmers in our area of central Illinois want to put on up to 200 lb. of N on 70°+ soils,” says Farm Journal Field Agronomist Ken Ferrie. “This is not a good practice for your fertility program or for the environment.”

Farmers should wait until soil temperatures at 4” are below 50°. Soil temperature dictates N application because it also impacts the activity of the soil micro-organisms that are responsible for the conversion of ammonium to nitrate.

“Farmers need to understand the risk of loss through leaching, denitrificiation, and volatization,” Ferrie says. “Harvest is early, and we are way too warm and have too high of a risk for staying too warm. Even with inhibitors we can’t protect that nitrogen long enough to get the soils cooled down.”

Once soils drop below 50°the risk of N leaching and being lost also drops.

Although it requires some patience this year for soil temperatures to reach the appropriate levels, your waiting will be rewarded as soil microbes continue to be active even below freezing temperatures.

If you are strip-tilling, Ferrie says go ahead and build your strips when conditions are fit. But don’t hook up the anhydrous tanks. Save the N application until this spring.

Learn more about the nitrogen cycle and the risk of applying nitrogen to warm, fall soils in episode 6 of Corn College TV.

John Phipps: How Dire is the World's Energy Crisis?

Mon, 01 Nov 2021 19:07:47 GMT

China used to import lots of coal from Australia. When the Australian government criticized Beijing for obstructing a study about the origins of COVIC, the Chinese government stopped those imports, which has crippled power generation in their rapidly recovering economy. They began to import from Europe, and Australia is now exporting to Europe. That illogical situation and multiple other factors, illustrate how the world has blundered into an energy crisis.

While coal is one factor, the largest is natural gas. Electricity producers had enthusiastically switched to gas-turbine plants for economic and environmental reasons. Covid drastically reduced demand resulting in US NG prices below $2. Meanwhile liquefied natural gas exports had finally begun to take off, offering financial hope to all the fracking and its NG production. Looking at the US Energy Information Agency projections, higher gas prices could prompt fracking to ramp up idled production, but relief from higher prices won’t come until late next year. Farmers are already experiencing it via truly astronomical nitrogen prices. Last fall we paid about $450 per ton for ammonia. Our local price today just went over $1000.

This theme of Covid shutdown coupled with the shift to greener energy, along really bad decisions, has led to a network of shortages that threaten home heating in Britain and Germany, electricity in Brazil, and bizarrely enough solar panel production as the availability of power in China has sharply cut silicon production. But wait, there’s more! Nuclear power plants were being shut down around the globe. Climate-change-induced drought cut hydropower output due to low reservoir levels. We’ve all seen photos of Lake Meade behind Hoover Dam which is running 25% lower output. It’s even more severe in Brazil where hydropower supplies over 60% of the electricity.

In this turmoil, the U.S. is probably in better shape than other countries due to our considerable resources, generation capacity, infrastructure, and above all, wealth. The transition to greener energy sources was limping along before Covid, but its economic whipsaw of demand and prices has created a true global energy crunch.

The collective noun for a group of swans is a lamentation. Given the black swan events we’re seeing in energy, it’s aptly named.

U.S. Commerce Rules Russian UAN Imports Unfair, Opens Door for Tariffs and Even Higher Fertilizer Prices in U.S.

Thu, 03 Feb 2022 15:37:34 GMT

The Department of Commerce (DOC) issued a preliminary determination this week showing urea nitrate from Russia and Trinidad and Tobago is being sold into the U.S. at less than fair value. The determination could open the door for countervailing duties, and in turn, even higher fertilizer prices for U.S. farmers.

The Department’s International Trade Administration (ITA) announced countervailing duty (CVD) rates based on their finding.

According to Pro Farmer Washington Correspondent Jim Wiesemeyer, the Federal Register shows the dumping rates for Trinidad and Tobago are 63.08% for Methanol Holdings and for all other firms. And rates for specified Russian entities range from 9.15% to 127.19%, with a rate of 15.48% for all other firms.

The ITC already ruled last summer that UAN imports from Russia and Trinidad and Tobago are hurting domestic fertilizer producers. That allowed the DOC to conduct the most recent investigation.

Facts and Figures

In the report, the Commerce Department said imports from Russia totaled 1,186,295 short tons in 2020 with a value at $137.8 million, with imports of 996,136 short tons from Trinidad and Tobago with a value of $99.7 million.

As a result, Wiesemeyer says, “the Commerce Department will impose cash deposit requirements on imports of UAN from Russia and Trinidad, based on the preliminary rates of dumping. Additional CVD cash deposit requirements are already in place based on Commerce’s previous preliminary finding that Russian UAN imports are unfairly subsidized at rates ranging from 9.66% to 9.84%, and that Trinidadian UAN imports are unfairly subsidized at a rate of 1.83%.”

Higher Fertilizer Prices Ahead?

Fertilizer prices are already posing price pain for farmers looking to lock in inputs for the 2022 season. The latest Purdue University/CME Ag Economy Barometer was just released Tuesday, and it showed a producers expect a sharp decline in income in 2022 compared to 2021, and the driving factor was input prices and availability. The monthly barometer hit the lowest reading since July 2020.

Read More: “Has The Farm Financial Picture Turned Dire? Ag Economy Barometer Reveals Reality of Input Price Pain for 2022"

In the December, Texas A&M Agricultural and Food Policy Center (AFPC) issued a report on the “ Economic Impact of Nitrogen Prices on U.S. Corn Producers .” The report was prepared for 21 state corn grower groups. AFPC’s study showed farmers are currently facing nitrogen costs 80% higher than last year . That’s as anhydrous ammonia prices reached 2008 levels in October at more than $1,000 per ton. And those prices have been steadily rising ever since.

“You’re talking fertilizer prices that have gone up somewhere close to $200 an acre for some producers, and the revenue being generated is not offsetting that. And that’s just the fertilizer industry,” Chris Edgington, an Iowa farmer and president of National Corn Growers Association (NCGA). “That’s not even talking about the chemistry industry, land values or equipment that people can’t get. There is a big, big cash flow crunch coming. The banking industry is nervous about it as well, as they watch what has been a pretty good year for agriculture possibility go completely backward in this next growing season in a big way.”

Edgington says fertilizer prices are the top issue and concern for NCGA members right now, and claims the recent study out of Texas A&M reinforces the fact shell-shocked farmers can’t handle more price increases. That’s why NCGA says it will continue to urge CF Industries and Mosaic to withdraw petitions that led to the tariffs to the tune of 19% on imported fertilizers. While the DOC findings released earlier this week are related, a final ruling on the case filed by commodity groups is expected later this year.

“We understand some of the risks we take in agriculture, but when people are asking for tariffs on top of what is already a price that is not acceptable for farmers to be able to try to make a living we have some problems with that,” says the NCGA president. “That’s why we’re pushing back. It’s these tariffs. It’s companies that are using trade wars and tariffs that’s affecting us, individual farmers, as we try to make day-to-day decisions. It will have an impact. There will be less fertilizer put on, crop mix will change but to what level depends on supply.”

Far from Over

While the preliminary findings are now public, the Commerce Department says the final determination will be delayed and will now be released June 17 with a final determination by the US International Trade Commission (ITC) due Aug. 1.