Moultrie Observer

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December 4, 2008

Some fertilizer costs decline with fuel prices

Dwain Walden

MOULTRIE — Farming is a tremendous showcase of “cause and effect.”

And more recently, with the drop of diesel prices, some fertilizer costs, which had skyrocketed, are also dropping.

Ricky Allegood, manager of Colquitt Ag Services in Doerun, said the cost of urea, a basic form of nitrogen, is seeing the biggest decline. Just recently it has come down from $800 per ton to $400.

Urea, however, is considered a volatile fertilizer in that the grower loses a lot of its potential in handling and application, said Allegood

Ammonia nitrate on the other hand is not so volatile — but that price hasn’t dropped as much.

County Extension Agent Scott Brown said he isn’t sure if the fuel drop is directly related to the decrease in fertilizer prices but noted that fuel is involved heavily in the production of nitrogen.

Brown said phosphorus is down but potassium has not come down.

“Potash used to be the cheapest of the fertilizer components,” said Brown. “It has no relationship to fossil fuels except that it must be hauled.”

Potash, he said, comes from all over the world and there is a lot of competition for it.

“Some countries have quit using manure as a fertilizer. Their living standards have risen, and now they are producing more and competing,” he said.

Most farms are diesel-based. About the only gasoline engines one might find on a farm now would be in very small auxiliary engines.

Also, about half of the county’s irrigation units have switched to electric power, said Brown.

Electric power costs don’t fluctuate as drastically as diesel. But, farmers buy diesel at an off-road rate that is lower than conventional prices at the pump, which on Wednesday averaged about $2.71 per gallon across the state.

Relative to irrigation, holding ponds have been greatly replenished with recent rains.

“In some instances, they are running over,” said Brown.



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