Managing fertilizer prices on pastures

High fertilizer prices rewards good management decisions on fertilizer and forage management. Now more than ever it pays to be smart about fertilizer on forages, Lory and Kallenbach said.

High nitrogen prices have farmers reconsidering nitrogen management on forages, according to John Lory and Rob Kallenbach, University of Missouri Extension environmental nutrient and plant science specialists respectively.

High nitrogen prices make the costs of over application that much more costly. On the other side of the ledger hay and beef prices also have increased so the costs of under application have also increased, they said.

Farmers are well served by reassessing nitrogen fertilizer management decisions. The value of good management has never been higher because of the combination of high fertilizer and commodity prices.

Core rules for making nitrogen fertilizer pay in forage systems have not changed-fertilize when the plant has a capacity to respond and maximize forage use.

Fertilizer only pays if it increases the amount and/or quality of beef, milk, or hay sold. High fertilizer prices favor farmers who harvest high quality hay and maximize forage use on pastures.

Fertilizer princes have steadily increased since 2002. National agricultural statistics show fertilizer nitrogen price has essentially doubled in the past five years. This spring prices are projected to be 30% greater than last year.

`The increase in fertilizer price has been partially offset by an increase in the value of gain for feeder cattle. Since 2002 the value of gain on steers has increased 50% and this trend will continue with high grain costs," the two extension specialists said.

The following scenario helps put the value of fertilizer in perspective on a pasture. Assume an operation applies 120 pounds of nitrogen per acre resulting in about three tons of forage production. A moderately efficient operation may produce 225 pounds of gain per acre on this pasture.

In 2002 cost of the nitrogen fertilizer price per pound of gain was $0.16. By 2007 higher fertilizer prices had doubled the cost to $0.32 per pound of grain.

To look at it from a different perspective in 2002 nitrogen fertilizer costs represented 31% of the total value of gain per care. In 2007 higher fertilizer prices had increased that to 42%.

The higher fertilizer costs make forage use and management more critical than ever. For instance increasing gain per acre from 225 to 275 pounds through improved forage management would reduce fertilizer costs as a percentage of the value of gain per acre to 34%, a value marginally higher than in 2002 despite higher fertilizer prices.

High fertilizer prices force farmers to make smart fertilizer decisions to make fertilizer pay on forages. Farmers that apply fertilizer only when they are needed increased production and farmers that maximize use of forage will maximize fertilizer value.