# Falling Fertilizer???



## Hayboy1 (Jul 19, 2008)

Is what I am hearing too good to be true? Fertilizer prices are falling now? How are the prices where you are? Interesting to hear


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## Lazy J (Jul 18, 2008)

Hayboy1 said:


> Is what I am hearing too good to be true? Fertilizer prices are falling now? How are the prices where you are? Interesting to hear


They have already fallen. I don't think we will see any more weakness in the fertilizer market now that crude oil is rising again.

I just got a quote of $500 for Phosphate and $810 for Potash in NE Indiana/NW Ohio.

Jim


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

Just checked the Co-op 450 dap,650 potash.$550 for 9-23-30.Waiting for a call back from wholesale dealer on a semi load to see if there is much savings.Would have to buy a spreader or rent one from another farmer if I go that way.Have a couple nieghbors bought terragators that I could hire also.
Got a few more qoutes today the low was $342 P $629 K =485.50 for 9-23-30
High bid was $729 ton for 9-23-30 WOW what a difference.$36.50 ac difference at 300# rate.On 400 ac that is $14,600 difference HOLY CRAP


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## Grateful11 (Apr 5, 2009)

We got 15-15-15 for $480/ton and then it's like $20 to get spread.


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

Grateful11 said:


> We got 15-15-15 for $480/ton and then it's like $20 to get spread.


Around here going rate for spreading with airflo is $4.50-5.50 ac.Or you can rent a pull type spinner spreador for $2.00 ac


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## Grateful11 (Apr 5, 2009)

swmnhay said:


> Around here going rate for spreading with airflo is $4.50-5.50 ac.Or you can rent a pull type spinner spreador for $2.00 ac


The guy that spreads ours charges like $20/ton. He uses a HD single axle truck with a 
spreader box and GPS in the cab. He questioned my wife about getting over the fields 
some areas not far from here got like 4" more rain than we did last week. Wife said we 
just through discing all the areas we wanted covered so bring it on.


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## nwfarmer (Jun 16, 2009)

Last year we paid $110 an acre for fertilizer. This year it was down to $60 an acre. We spread it ourselves. They loan the spreader but probably add it into the price of fertilizer.

Since the loaned spreaders don't have markers we made up 7 ft poles with flags on top, 3/8 inch rebar on the bottom. We calculate the width of the spreader and pace out the distance and we can get good coverage. It is a little extra effort moving the flags but it works.


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## fxrupr (Jun 30, 2009)

Does anyone have access to chicken or turkey manure? I keep trying to get on the list of when they clean out the barns but it's all spoken for already. Where I am just north of Waco TX there are a lot of contract poultry growers but it's hard to break into the local circle of folks who know the right people to talk to.

How do some of you other folks make contact with the local sources of manures? How do you calculate your NPK application if you are using manure? Soil testing?


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## Grateful11 (Apr 5, 2009)

fxrupr said:


> Does anyone have access to chicken or turkey manure? I keep trying to get on the list of when they clean out the barns but it's all spoken for already. Where I am just north of Waco TX there are a lot of contract poultry growers but it's hard to break into the local circle of folks who know the right people to talk to.
> 
> How do some of you other folks make contact with the local sources of manures? How do you calculate your NPK application if you are using manure? Soil testing?


Just cow manure here. We have lots of it.


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## gold642 (Jun 30, 2009)

I raise about 2.5 million broilers a year. Our two farms hold 180,00 and 155,000 at any given time. The NPK on our manure is about a 3-3-3 at 20 to 25 percent moisture. I like to spread following first cutting . so we spread last week about 400 tons on 125 acres. You can apply to hay up to 10 tons per acre without burning if the manure is under 25 percent moisture and the hay is not wet. However if you spread with a heavy dew you can burn alfalfa . We found mowing hay after chicken maunure applications make it difficult using our NH 492 haybind. This has also been the case of my manure customers. The hay gets high and thick and you really need a discbind to get it done. We bought a used John Deere 935. It has no problems as long as there are no rocks within miles of it. I think if I drive within 10 miles of a rock the blades bend and need replaced.The second issue we have seen is the windrows get to large for some of the older balers. My neighbors nh 273 will bale it but he has to run real slow. Our NH 276 does better but we are going to NH 426 so we can bale faster. I would reccommend 3 ton per acre using chicken manure. every other year.


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## ecofarmer (May 29, 2009)

Most years I can get 900 tons of chicken manure. 
I had 900 tons of chicken manure put down on my 300 acres of alfalfa a week after it was cut. The alfalfa gets the chicken manure ever other year and my other pastures get it every 4 years.

We can get an unlimited amount of cattle manure 1 to 6 miles of my fields. 
We put it down on everything in the spring if we can get on it and after the second cutting.

I have been able to get pig manure a few times but the pig farm up the road closed down.

As anyone ever put down sewer slug?
From what I have been told it's cheap but I have never used it.


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## Hayboy1 (Jul 19, 2008)

It's cheap for a reason. I believe the metals in it are more detrimental than anything, but I am surely no expert on this. Plus all the crap..(no pun intended!!) that is in there as well would surely be no fun picking out afterwards.


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## ecofarmer (May 29, 2009)

I bailed a field last spring that had it applied that fall. I didn't find out till we were cleaning out the bailer and found a few applicators that got hung up. Then I know why they paid us to travel 30 miles to there farm. I did call and get the application records and it had been down for 5 months so there was not a health risk. I found out who bought it and they had a mess in there field.

A few years back I did some reading on it and found a few studies done by a small collage. It came out to say that straight sewer systems tested for lower in metals then mixed sewer and water run off systems.

Some one would have to pay me to put in on one of my fields.


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## okhillbilly (Jun 18, 2009)

I bought 2 tons on 8/26 of 46-0-0. Prices are up to $425 per ton. Spring prices were down to $380 a ton. $20 for a spreader


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## fxrupr (Jun 30, 2009)

My Brother in VT was getting municipal sludge delivered by the city of Barre until the neighbors complained about the smell to somebody and they made him quit. Apparently the heavy metals were not an issue in his case. He said his corn loved it. He also said that the lime they put in the sludge to sweeten it allowed him to reduce the lime he had to spread later. 
I am sure that any city large enough to have a sewage plant has tests done on their sludge to check it's chemistry. I was looking into getting into the compost business 20 years ago and I contacted the Dallas TX. sewage plant to check on sludge and they told me their cadmium, chromium and lead levels were off the charts because of all the plating shops illegally dumping heavy metals. They dried some of their sludge and landfilled it and spread the rest on land the city owns. I guess the city can deal with heavy metals anyway they want. 
I don't know about now but I assume it has gotten less polluted but you never know.

John


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