Farmers are having to make tough decisions on how to use their limited capital amid rising input costs, with some considering the drastic step of cutting fertilizer usage. However, cutting back on fertilizers could be a risky financial move as crop nutrients are vital to crop yields, Kip Jacobs, field solution for Mosaic, told AgTechNavigator.
“There’s tons of data to show that upwards of 60% of yield at the end of the year comes directly from your fertilizer program. ... We have data that shows up to 44% of an input cost on a farmer’s profit-and-loss sheet can go directly into those crop nutrients. So, whether it’s good times or — arguably more important when it’s bad times — we continue to focus on those key inputs and do everything that we can at Mosaic to be sure that the farmers get the most value, the most yield, and ultimately the most return on their fertilizer investment,” Jacobs elaborated.
Can biologicals help bring down input costs?
A rancher in central Illinois, Jacobs helps farmers from the southern half of Wisconsin to the Delta of Louisiana develop effective fertilizer programs through his role at Mosaic. Farmers worried about fertilizer prices are exploring ways to improve nutrient uptake, including the use of biologics that serve as fertilizer complements, Jacobs explained.
“The trials and tribulations that we are going through now ... opens up a lot of opportunity for flexibility and adoption of new practices that allow us to make some transitions that in good times, we may not have quite as much interest in doing so. Biologicals are a big one,” Jacobs elaborated.
Currently, Mosaic offers Biopath and PowerCoat, which help plants keep nutrients near the root zone (i.e., the rhizosphere), improving nutrient uptake, Jacobs said.
Additionally, Mosaic utilizes a data platform called TruResponse, which provides data on crop input performance, including the nearly 200 trials of BioPath that have demonstrated a 4.1-bushel advantage per acre, Jacobs noted. Additionally, research has shown that farmers who use BioPatch can achieve 9.6 pounds of additional nutrient uptake per acre.
“Everything we’re doing is to maximize nutrient use efficiency. So, if you look at the three pillars of nutrient use efficiency, the nutrient has to be available, it has to be uptaken by the plant, and ultimately has to be utilized and turned into a physiological benefit or yield at the end of the year,” he added.
When should farmers apply fertilizers?
Farmers across the U.S. have purchased varying degrees of their fertilizer needs for this year, with 67% of Midwest pre-booking their supply compared to 31%, 30%, and 19% of Western, Northeast, and Southern growers, respectively, per an American Farm Bureau Federation survey of 5,700 members.
Farmers have the option to apply fertilizer in the fall after the harvest or in early spring ahead of planting. Often, the decision to apply in one season or another comes down to time management, Jacobs explained.
“Arguably, we have more time to put [fertilizer] applications out later in the fall versus in the spring, where we’re battling moisture, trying to get the fields ready and get ready to plant. ... We see growers and retailers want to favor the fall application over the spring,” he elaborated.
However, with “commodity-based fertilizers, there are some negatives to that microbial activity if you get the fertilizer out there too soon, [like] moisture leaching. There are a lot of things that can play into how much that fertilizer is going to be present in the spring after a fall application of a commodity fertilizer,” he noted.
