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Hoorman Soil Health Services

  Fall and Spring are usually the time when farmers or fertilizer dealers take most soil tests to make recommendations for fertilizer applications. In the last several years, most dealers now do that service for their farmer clients. A few years ago, looking at soil test collected over several years, there was a big jump of .5 to 1.0% increase in soil organic matter (SOM) on all this no-till farmers fields. I started asking questions. He was already a no-tiller and using cover crops. Had he done anything different? No really. Then I asked who took the sample? He said the dealer. Who took them before? He said he had. Is there that much sampling difference between dealers and farmers? The biggest difference is that dealers use a machine (a soil sampler on a four-wheeler) while most farmers use a shovel or a probe. The standard procedure for collecting a soil sample 10 years ago was to wipe the soil surface clean of residue, then probe the soil, taking at least 10-15 samples in a rand...

  After a late 2025 drought and lower crop prices, farmers are looking ahead to the 2026 crop year. High volatile fertilizer prices will be a major concern this next year. Currently, DAP retail price is $926 per metric ton up from $580 in January. DAP or diammonium phosphate is 18% nitrogen and 46% phosphate (18-46-0). The retail price for MAP (mono ammonium phosphate) is $921 per ton. Potash or potassium (60% potash or K, 0-0-60) prices are about 24% higher than last year at $483-485 per ton. Some global spot prices are $350-$360 per ton. Ammonia prices (NH3) are about $440 to $450 per metric ton. Why are prices too high? There are a number of factors but the major one are supply disruptions due to the Russia/Ukraine war, China cutting back on exports, high tariff costs, port disruptions, high global demand and competition for fertilizer, and still high energy costs which is used to make most nitrogen fertilizer. First, the Russian war with Ukraine has disrupted nitrogen (N) ferti...

Entering October, is it too late to plant small grains (wheat or possibly barley) and is it even profitable to do so? It is not too late but with wheat at roughly $4.50 to $5.00, it is difficult to make wheat profitable. Most can justify planting wheat at $6/bushel. However, $4.50 corn is not much better. Planting wheat helps improve the crop rotation, reduce weeds, and may increase other crop yields by 10%. Wheat and other small grain crops like barley, cereal rye, oats are alternative crops. The market for barley and oats are fairly limited. Due to high test weight oats grown in Canada and few breweries in Ohio, oat and barley markets are slim. At around $12/bushel for cereal rye as a cover crop, cereal rye can be profitable with good yields.  Wheat straw can be harvested to gain income and double crop soybeans are another option to add income. It’s the wheat roots that add most of the soil organic matter (80-90%), so harvesting the wheat straw is a good practice. Anything plante...

  Farmers are in a tough spot. Fertilizer prices are spiking and crop prices are not high enough to cover the costs. The bright spots are on the livestock and dairy side with much higher prices and profits. For grain farmers; with a late drought, yields and prices are not high enough to make much money. Usually, farmers benefit from free markets. The USA usually exports about 1 out of every 3 bushel of soybeans produced. A lot of corn is used to make ethanol for fuel but energy prices are moderating and coming down. Farmers need to export excess grain to stay in business. When grain exports decline, grain farm income tends to decline. USA grain farmers are losing market share to other countries or for political purposes (countries like China) are not buying our grain commodities. Even worse, many countries (especially European markets) have agricultural subsidies that prevent our grain from being sold and exported overseas. The average subsidy overseas is about 1.3% of Gross Nati...