Input shortages

[yoderjac]

It has been a while since I limed so I took some soil samples last week and sent them off to VT. I talked to my neighbor who is a beginning small commercial farmer and he said he was having a hard time finding lime. We have several local quarries. He said they had shut down in Dec. He was finally able to get a dump truck load but didn't realize he needed a lime buggy to spread it. When I chatted with the coop manager, he confirmed they have no lime on hand like usual. They are spreading it for folks as it becomes available. He said that most folks around here all want it spread in the spring and that by summer it should be readily available, so it looks like I'll hold off and spread before the fall plant.

When I asked about gly he said the shortage was pretty bad. He expects to begin to see it delivered in the next couple weeks but they won't even price it until it is shipped. Based on looking at on-line prices I'm expecting to see it run around $1,000 for a 30 gal drum. For the last few years, I've been mainly using interline (Liberty generic) for burn-down with a little gly added to it. I was able to order it from Rural King for $99 for a 2 1/2 gal jug. Now Rural King no longer ships it and says it is "in-store only". We only have one RK in reasonable driving distance and it and even those further way show it out of stock. On-line prices at other places are closer to $280 for 2 1/2 gal. When I do the math, even at $1,000 gly is about 1/2 the cost on a per acre basis.

How do these things look in other areas?

Thanks,

Jack

 

[SwampCat]

Local farm store has generic 41% gly at $120 per 2.5 gal jug - $230 for two 2.5 gal. Was $89 for five gallons last year. Fert about $19 for $50 lb compared to $13 last year. Dont know about lime. I dont know how farmers are going to swing it - farm diesel over $4 per gallon. I have heard certified seed has increased in price. Delivery charging fuel surcharge on top of everything else. Absolutely nuts

 

[bigboreblr]

Definitely buying fertilizer this week. Fuel goes up, fertilizer goes up too...... I use feed oats to seed. I buy it earlier htan i need it and germinate test it myself. tractor supply had it for $20 a 50lb bag. Last year bought from ace hardware coop locally for $13.

Fuel is limitng my trips up to camp for sure. Bought an enclosed trailer this year. dragging it at 10mpg / $130 for fuel there n back. Looking to do 3 trips and thats it. Spending an extra day up there, when I usually just go for fri nite to sunday.

I am good on clethodim and gly for a year or two easily. Making 3 small plots at camp this year. maybe need a dozen bags of lime. May hold back on one of the spots, there's weeds and blueberry bushes the deer like there already. And we're due to get that area wrecked by loggers...... timber company lease.

Buying pieces of steel rods / bearings / and other bits to make my own food plot spreader. That stuff definitely went up.......

Really starting to think hard about what I do and spend to harvest a deer or two a year. And Im not a big trophy type. Just good clean shot on a decent deer.

 

[trapperm]

I’ve heard from multiple food plotters regarding their methods evaluation too. People are considering ways to lighten the herbicide expenses and what not too which I think is the silver lining of all this. If we’re smart enough to do it with less input we should be better off in the long run.

That said- Gly is on the shelves here for 125$ a 2.5 if you find it.

Bagged fertilizer is anticipated to spike according to the locals in the know.

Sounds like seed availability should be ok

Bagged lime has went up. Pelletized was 5$ a bag last year, appears to be 7-8$ a bag this year. I don’t know what bulk prices are at the moment.

 

[Tree Spud]

Just picked up 2 - 2.5 gal of Gly for $99 ea, last 2 on the shelf.

 

[trapperm]

Just picked up 2 - 2.5 gal of Gly for $99 ea, last 2 on the shelf.

Where at?

 

[SD51555]

Gypsum is up to $8/bag for a 40 pounder where I get mine. This might be the year to cut off my good soil and have it fend for itself biologically. Some of it is ready I think. The newly moved dirt ain't there yet, but another couple years it should be.

 

[Nightvision]

This is what I have bought recently.

1506lbs of 17-17-17 for $725.50
3.35 tons of lime for $115.00

Have not bought any Gly but it was $58.00 a gallon so 30 gallons would have been about $1800.00 I do not have a gate card.

I purchased a 55 gallon drum of soybeans from the farmer for $100.00

Another farmer gave me a 50lb bag of corn as he was picking it. Just planted some last week so no idea how well it will germinate but with the weather coming in ,it may not matter if it germs at 100%.

Diesel at $5.09 a gallon but is now up to $5.39. Our gas is around $4.20

 

[Bill]

I may plant beans and let them go. I planted once with a mix of sunflowers, cow peas and milo and the beans did pretty well in there even though I couldn’t spray.

Sunflowers got wiped out early.

 

[Bassattackr]

I may plant beans and let them go. I planted once with a mix of sunflowers, cow peas and milo and the beans did pretty well in there even though I couldn’t spray.

Sunflowers got wiped out early.

Always wanted to toy with a plot like this. How did the cowpeas do with browse pressure Bill? Our farms are probably more similar in habitat and location than others on this board.

Would be interested if you have any photos into the fall of that plot.. Like you, I had very few sunflower survive. The ones that did only made it to about 30" tall hidden in the japanese millet, milo and soybeans.. And Ragweed ha.

 

[Bill]

Always wanted to toy with a plot like this. How did the cowpeas do with browse pressure Bill? Our farms are probably more similar in habitat and location than others on this board.

Would be interested if you have any photos into the fall of that plot.. Like you, I had very few sunflower survive. The ones that did only made it to about 30" tall hidden in the japanese millet, milo and soybeans.. And Ragweed ha.

I searched and couldn’t find a picture. Cowpeas did slightly better then the sun flowers but not much. I had ragweed also. But I figure deer eat it and quail love the seeds. It wasn’t pretty by any means but it had deer in it.

 

[swat1018]

It has been a while since I limed so I took some soil samples last week and sent them off to VT. I talked to my neighbor who is a beginning small commercial farmer and he said he was having a hard time finding lime. We have several local quarries. He said they had shut down in Dec. He was finally able to get a dump truck load but didn't realize he needed a lime buggy to spread it. When I chatted with the coop manager, he confirmed they have no lime on hand like usual. They are spreading it for folks as it becomes available. He said that most folks around here all want it spread in the spring and that by summer it should be readily available, so it looks like I'll hold off and spread before the fall plant.

When I asked about gly he said the shortage was pretty bad. He expects to begin to see it delivered in the next couple weeks but they won't even price it until it is shipped. Based on looking at on-line prices I'm expecting to see it run around $1,000 for a 30 gal drum. For the last few years, I've been mainly using interline (Liberty generic) for burn-down with a little gly added to it. I was able to order it from Rural King for $99 for a 2 1/2 gal jug. Now Rural King no longer ships it and says it is "in-store only". We only have one RK in reasonable driving distance and it and even those further way show it out of stock. On-line prices at other places are closer to $280 for 2 1/2 gal. When I do the math, even at $1,000 gly is about 1/2 the cost on a per acre basis.

How do these things look in other areas?

Thanks,

Jack

Looks like Biden and his ass clowns has everything screwed up, nationwide.

 

[yoderjac]

Looks like Biden and his ass clowns has everything screwed up, nationwide.

Either that or we are suffering from the impact of COVID on the supply chain and economy...

 

[Barndog56]

Wrong again. Not the impact of COVID, but the democratic response to COVID, namely lockdowns and mandates.

 

[jsasker007]

Where does the co-op get lime from anyway? Where do they get anything from? We must not make too many things from start to finish in the US anymore? Hard to find anything where you can just place an order and get it in a timely manner. Kinda sad that we rely on other countries when we shouldn't have to in my opinion. Hopefully toilet paper is still made here or we're in deep shit. See what I did there. Hardy HAR HAR

 

[rocksnstumps]

For the WI crowd, Waukesha barn lime (dolomitic lime) sold here for over 100 yrs comes from....uhmm Waukesha, WI near Milwaukee. So expect the supply is still fine but shipping costs and labor hiccups are driving up costs

PS
WI is also looking good on the paper products and TP side too. Consumer paper products is still doing ok, but yes magazine and newsprint not so good. Actually brown kraft paper (think Amazon boxes) and converting such is going well too. Been involved with manufacturing and consumer products businesses many decades. So anyways, your TP is still pretty local. Lots of converting yet in Green Bay.

 

[yoderjac]

Where does the co-op get lime from anyway? Where do they get anything from? We must not make too many things from start to finish in the US anymore? Hard to find anything where you can just place an order and get it in a timely manner. Kinda sad that we rely on other countries when we shouldn't have to in my opinion. Hopefully toilet paper is still made here or we're in deep shit. See what I did there. Hardy HAR HAR

Mine gets lime from the local quarries. I could buy it directly, but I would have no way to apply it. I pay a bit more to buy it from the coop, but they will rent me a lime buggy or (for a higher cost) bring a big lime truck out and apply it.

 

[yoderjac]

Wrong again. Not the impact of COVID, but the democratic response to COVID, namely lockdowns and mandates.

Most power for health restrictions lie with the states. Some states were quick to be restrictive and stay that way and others were very quick to relieve restrictions. We see little difference in the current economic situation between the two. I've seen two federal administrations fumble COVID. One pretended it was no big deal and the second overreached with mandates until rebuffed by the courts. Both made mistakes and both made positive contributions.

 

[Foggy47]

I have bought an end dump trailer load of dolmetic lime some years ago. 23 tons cost me $700....IIRC. It came from a quarry in the Twin Cities metro area. Had it hauled in by a trucking company that specializes in lime hauling (Hull Bros out of Avon MN....dont even ask about smaller quantities). I had the driver put it in two piles at the mid points in two different areas. Used my loader to put it in an EZ Flow drop spreader which I had cut down to a six footer to make it easier to get around my land. Pulled it all with an ATV. I also bought a dump truck load of about 12 tons from a seed dealer....before I learned to buy by the trailer load. Same price for 1/2 the lime. It's all about trucking costs.

I could apply about 1000 lbs per load with my EZ Flow.....so I suppose I did 46 loads or so.....all in one day. Since then I have put down some pell lime from time to time in new areas. I have not priced lime like this in several years. My PH levels run near ideal the last time I did some soil samples.....now two years out.

I suppose it's time to do some soil samples and add some lime as needed.......maybe this is not the year to do so. Maybe I will do the samples and then act accordingly. At least I have a great way to apply the bulk lime.

Going the no-till / regenerative agriculture route now with a NT Drill and Roller crimper and such. Supposedly I will be able to cut back on my fertilizer and lime needs. I keep reading that lime applications are not needed....but do not understand how that can be....regardless of the way you farm your land ?? My land has never been "overly" acidic....not sure why....as it was a pine plantation for many years....untill I logged most of it off. I think much of my original Ph tests were in the area of the high 5s to 6....and now I approach 7 on most of my ten acres of food plots.

 

[yoderjac]

I have bought an end dump trailer load of dolmetic lime some years ago. 23 tons cost me $700....IIRC. It came from a quarry in the Twin Cities metro area. Had it hauled in by a trucking company that specializes in lime hauling (Hull Bros out of Avon MN....dont even ask about smaller quantities). I had the driver put it in two piles at the mid points in two different areas. Used my loader to put it in an EZ Flow drop spreader which I had cut down to a six footer to make it easier to get around my land. Pulled it all with an ATV. I also bought a dump truck load of about 12 tons from a seed dealer....before I learned to buy by the trailer load. Same price for 1/2 the lime. It's all about trucking costs.

I could apply about 1000 lbs per load with my EZ Flow.....so I suppose I did 46 loads or so.....all in one day. Since then I have put down some pell lime from time to time in new areas. I have not priced lime like this in several years. My PH levels run near ideal the last time I did some soil samples.....now two years out.

I suppose it's time to do some soil samples and add some lime as needed.......maybe this is not the year to do so. Maybe I will do the samples and then act accordingly. At least I have a great way to apply the bulk lime.

Going the no-till route now with a NT Drill and Roller crimper and such. I keep reading that lime applications are not needed....but do not understand how that can be....regardless of the way you farm your land ?? My land has never been "overly" acidic....not sure why....as it was a pine plantation for many years. I think much of my original Ph tests were in the area of the high 5s to 6.

I've minimized tillage for quite a few years now. I'm using zero fertilizer, but soil pH is still important. The more active microbiome does improve nutrient cycling, but plants ability to uptake nutrients can still be limited by ph. Now it may be that if you no till long enough there is an impact on pH. I don't know, I'm not a soil scientist, but I do know that soil chemistry is not simple. There are lots of factors. I just did a few soil tests and got some very interesting results. I tested 3 fields that are within 100 yards of each other on the same soil type. All three have been managed the same way with the the same crops. One field cam back needing no lime. The second came back needing 2.75 tons/ac, and the third came back needing 1.5 ton/ac. I figured they would all come back the same in terms of pH. A new field on my land needs 3-4 tons/ac for initial amending. All had previously been limed at the same time.

It looks like lime will be more available here this summer, so I have plenty of time to sample more fields which I plan to do.

Thanks,

Jack