Fertilizing Crops in the New Price Age - Nitrogen

Fertilizers have been at unbelievably high prices, with tight supplies for some fertilizers. Total crop production costs are causing credit supply issues, which complicates decisions to allocate available funds for production expenses. Crop prices are changing rapidly, as are fertilizer prices. High corn and soybean prices certain help pay for expensive fertilizer and provide even greater net return to fertilization. However, the recent reduction in crop prices makes payoff of fertilizer and other production costs more problematic, and uncertain prices makes planning for next year difficult. On top of these monetary issues, mother nature has given us wet conditions in 2008 causing many issues related to nitrogen (N) management, timeliness of field operations, and quite variable crop yields. These issues combined are causing producers to consider changing production practices, including cutting back on fertilizer use. There is no simple answer, and sometimes no change is the correct approach