Agricultural News
When Is Fertilizer Too Expensive?
Fri, 04 Mar 2022 10:41:47 CST
Fertilizer prices have soared to almost record high prices since the summer of 2021. Urea (46-0-0) prices are averaging $890/ton with a range of $830 to $945. DAP (18-46-0) is just behind with an average of $864/ton. These high prices have many producers wondering if it is too expensive to use fertilizer in 2022.
The answer to this question will depend upon an individual producer's stocking rate and forage needs. But to determine at what price fertilizer becomes economically cost prohibitive let's compare the daily cost of feeding a cow with forage grown with fertilizer versus purchased hay.
An average cow will eat, trample on, lie on, defecate on or waste 43 lbs. of forage per day. By adding 50 lbs of nitrogen (109 lbs. Urea) bermuda grass will produce 1 extra ton of forage. Fertilizer is commercially spread at a charge of $5.00/acre. Hay bales purchased are 1,000 lbs. and the same quality as the forage grown in the pasture.
Chart 1 compares the cost of feeding a cow 43 lbs of forage per day with either fertilized pasture or purchased hay. The left side of the chart represents the cost/day. The bottom of the chart represents the cost of Urea on a per ton basis.
The horizontal line represents the daily feeding cost of purchased hay at $35 and $45 per bale. The columns represent the cost per day to feed forage grown using fertilizer at different Urea prices. When a column is below the line it is more cost efficient to use fertilizer instead of purchased hay. If the column is above the line it is more cost efficient to use purchased hay.
The chart shows when Urea fertilizer is priced at anything less than $1,000/ton it is more cost efficient to fertilize than to feed $35/bale hay. At no time does fertilizer become more expensive than feeding hay priced at $45/bale.
Chart 2 shows the cost of fertilized production when 50 lbs of phosphorus is required. 109 lbs. of Diammonium Phosphate (18-46-0) is used with 67 lbs. of Urea to reach 50 lbs. of phosphorus and nitrogen per acre. Assume that Urea is $890/ton (current average price). The DAP price ranges from $400 - $1,000 per ton.
Because of the added cost of phosphorus the price where fertilizer becomes cost prohibitive decreases. Now if a producer expects hay to be $35/bale DAP would need to be less than $650/ton to cost efficient when Urea is $650/ton. If a producer expected to pay $45/bale then DAP would have to go to almost $1,000/ton to be too expensive when Urea is $890/ton.
But a producer could lessen the cost of production by only fertilizing ½ of their acreage with DAP and increasing the amount of nitrogen to 100 lbs./acre on that half. This would produce the same amount of forage as fertilizing the whole pasture with only half the cost of the DAP fertilizer.
Although fertilizer prices are relatively high compared to the past it is still more economically feasible to fertilize pasture instead of buying hay. Producers that elect not to fertilize to meet forage needs will have to either spend more money in the fall to purchase hay or reduce stocking rates to match forage availability.
By James "JJ" Jones OSU Farm Managment.
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