Cut Costs, don’t eliminate!

As I was working on my father-in-law's dairy farm this weekend I couldn't help but think of the current economic situation facing all dairy farmers and most of agriculture in general. Things are tight and because of this costs need to be reassessed. As I was bedding up some cows I thought of how crucial some costs really are. Take the straw I was using at that point. I could have just eliminated the use of the straw to cut costs, however we all know the long term affects of that would be devastating in cattle health and production. This got me thinking about all the upcoming costs on the agronomic side of farming and where we may try to eliminate costs that may hurt us in the long run. Here are some of my thoughts.

Soil testing is a practice we preach all the time, and the fall is the best time to do it. Although this can be a low cost practice it may be one that gets a scrutinizing eye as we hit hard times. Depending on your current testing practices you may have some room to cut costs here, but they should not be eliminated. If you soil test every year you can probably take a year off. Use last year's soil tests along with this year's crop grown and yield to estimate nutrient removal and thus see what nutrients need to be added for next year's crop. If you haven't soil tested in over three year you ought to consider taking soil samples to check where you are at.

Once you have soil tested the question always is where do I spend money first? The most important area in soil health and nutrient availability to the plant is pH. If you have low pH (low depends on crop but typically no lower than 6.0) lime is the best product you can buy. Dollar for dollar this will return the greatest on your investment. Soil pH is a driver in many other nutrient cycles as well as the microbial population in the soil. If you have only one product you can buy for your soils make it lime. This year we have seen many cases around the state of poorly inoculated soybeans, one of the contributing factors to this has been low pH.

Fertility in the form of commercial fertilizers is always a large expense on most farms. Many farms in this area do have the availability of manure, however many of us need to supplement our manure nutrients with fertilizer. One of my biggest concerns at this point in time is potassium. Due to last year's high prices for potassium many decided to take a year off of buying potassium and mine some of the potassium in the soils. This year due to excellent rainfalls many of us have experienced yields at the high end of our expectations; this means more potassium has been used. Now we are in a situation where very few may want to invest again in potassium even thought the price is falling. This could set us up for some deficiencies. If I were to offer one suggestion on potassium fertilizer at this point it would be this. If you have manure at your disposal get it tested for nutrients. If commercial potassium is more expensive then nitrogen, apply your manure at a rate to supply potassium and supplement with nitrogen. If you are going into corn the use of a mid season nitrogen test such as the PSNT or Chlorophyll meter along with sidedressing can save money as will. In addition to potassium make sure you keep an eye on boron levels on alfalfa. This year we have had great yields so therefore if you are harvesting silage of any type, hay, and/or fodder you have a lot of nutrients in your bunkers, silos, and barns.

As we try to manage this current time of tight economics we need to take a good assessment of cutting costs without hurting ourselves in the future. With good soil tests you may be able to find some areas where you can cut costs, however we want to maintain enough nutrition in the soil to allow for good yields in the years to come. Many times if we get behind in nutrition in the soil it will take a long time to get it back. Additionally, if we don't have soil tests we will need to wait until we see deficiency in the crop before we know we are behind. At that time we have lost yield and that can be a costly mistake.