NCGA: ag inputs remain top of mind for corn growers

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NCGA: ag inputs remain top of mind for corn growers

Record input costs remain a top concern for corn growers ahead of the 2022 growing season.  

Chris Edgington is the president of the National Corn Growers Association.

“We’re past the first of the year and guys are trying to plan for this spring’s crop and we still don’t have a lot of stability in supply and pricing on the fertilizer side,” he says. “Even the herbicide side, the chemistry side, is causing some serious concerns with people because if you’re using anything in the glyphosate family, the costs are up substantially. Input costs are right at the top of most of the farmers’ concerns and so it’s at the top of NCGA’s concerns.”

The Iowa farmer is considering options on his farm.

“We’re definitely trying to figure out how to stretch the nitrogen further than we might traditionally think about and we’re reevaluating our herbicide program to see if there are other tools available to us to soften the cost increases,” he says.

Edgington says next year’s crop rotation will have a few more acres of soybeans.

“Part of that is rotation- we’re a pretty heavy corn family so we don’t rotate a lot, but I can tell you the costs are up, probably double, and we had things pre-booked,” he says.

He says rising commodity prices haven’t offset rising input costs.

“People are saying corn prices have gone up and yes they have, but corn hasn’t doubled in value and soybeans haven’t doubled in value. They’re up 40-50 percent whereas some of our input costs not only have doubled, but some have tripled so the offset isn’t the same,” he says.  

Edgington is part of a multi-generational family farm in St. Ansgar, Iowa.

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