As farmers deal with a challenging market this year, the United Soybean Board says it is important to find a good balance when it comes to deciding what is best for your operation.
“We had USDA come out with their expectations for the area for this next year and not seeing a lot of change in soy, some rebound in the corn area, but we’re still weeks away from planting in many parts of the country. Farmers are always balancing a whole suite of decisions. I always say farmers are going to balance what’s going to lead to economic viability and prosperity, got to balance the economics with the agronomics, what’s going to be sound and best for your operation? Not just now, but for the years to come,” said Mac Marshall.
Economics will play a big role in the decision making process this year, mainly because input costs remain high. That is why Marshall says there might be some last-minute changes between corn and soybean acres.
“Fertilizer prices are not where they were last year, but let’s not pretend that it isn’t still a margin-compression issue. They’re still significantly higher than they were in 2021, and the same is true for a lot of inputs, so that factors into farmers’ decisions as well. It’s not just what’s going to grow well; it’s given input costs, can I make the right decision that are going to shepherd the crop and put it in the best position? The big takeaway between now and the end of the March, I think there’s still some time for that to volley back and forth,” Marshall said.
Those fertilizer prices are down significantly from prices we saw last year. The latest check from DTN shows retail fertilizer prices continue to fall over the last two months.
