As I’ve reported here a number of times, input prices for farmers have been rising steadily. If the economy collapses, we can expect those prices to decline – but commodity prices will also likely decline in that eventuality, leaving farmers in the same boat. If the economy recovers – everybody cross your fingers – then inputs are likely to continue increasing as a share of farm operational costs.

With that in mind, many farmers have begun exploring their options regarding fertilizer use, with an eye toward reducing use to the necessary minimum. While this can save quite a bit of money, it is important for farmers to be aware of the risks of reducing fertilizer inputs beyond a certain point. Most farms probably do have some “slack” in the fertilizer budget – but it’s critical not to cut out too much. Suboptimal fertilization levels can have detrimental impacts on yield, stress tolerance, and standability of crops.

One principle to follow – believe the science. Soil tests provide hard data, not just a general “feel” for how soil is developing, and should be done by any farmer planning a reduction in fertilizer input. Don’t assume that a test result will stay valid over time, however – remember that every plant harvested is taking some nutrients out of the soil. Even if your soil has a buffer of built-up fertilizing agents that might allow you a light year for new applications, that won’t necessarily apply during the next growing season.

Another thing to bear in mind is that different crops remove nutrients at different rates. Just one bushel of corn removes 0.29 pounds of K2O and 0.4 pounds of P2O5, while a bushel of soybeans on the same land will remove 1.45 pounds of K2O and 0.85 pounds of P2O5. Know the figures for the crops you intend to grow, and take that into account in your fertilizer plan.

Aside from direct fertilizer use, remember that pH levels will have an impact on the bioavailability of existing (and added) nutrients. If you fail to apply enough lime, absorption rates for N, P and K can decrease, sometimes dramatically. The pH must be 5.9 or higher for N and K, and 6.4 for P. A low pH level can also increase the risk of herbicide carryover for imidazolinone-based applications.

The consequences of low fertilizer levels can be quite devastating to a crop, particularly if the weather doesn’t cooperate. Insufficient P doesn’t produce many immediately visible effects, which may lead you to conclude that levels are adequate, but P levels directly affect the ability of your plants to handle stress. Insufficient K levels mean that plants have a harder time absorbing water and nitrogen from soil, which makes the crop more vulnerable to drought conditions. In soybeans, inadequate K can cause reduced nodulation and increased damage from disease and pests.

To summarize, decreasing your fertilizer application may well decrease your cost – but it may not improve your bottom line if you aren’t careful. It doesn’t make sense to knock $50,000 off the fertilizer bill if it means your stunted crop brings in $60,000 less than last year. Check soil levels carefully and accurately calculate the nutritional needs of your planned crop before taking this step.

You know how much residue is left on the field after you harvest a corn crop (you can probably look out the window and get a good idea), but did you know that the residue amounts to about half of the total crop weight? That’s right, 50% of the biomass you grew is still sitting on the field after harvest.

That corn residue can be used as a winter feed source for beef cattle, squeezing another use out of the crop and greatly cutting winter feed costs for combined operations. One acre of corn residue is about two months of feed for a 1,000 pound animal. Getting the most value out of the residue requires a little planning and some awareness of what can go wrong, however. It doesn’t save you any money if you end up with a beef herd with nitrate poisoning, or if the vet bills for foundered cows exceeds what you saved in feed.

To get the most out of the nutrition left on the field, animals should be allowed to graze immediately after harvest, as wind and rain quickly break down the nutritional quality of the residue. Cows can get about 65% total digestible nutrients, and about 7% of crude protein, from corn residue. Depending on the age and breed of the animals, you might need mineral supplementation to keep them healthy while they’re foraging on your corn fields.

Over the course of that 60-day feeding window, the cows will only eat about 20% of the residue – and you thought your kids were picky eaters! That’s actually good news, as it means that erosion and soil compaction will be greatly limited by the large amount of biomass that will be left on the ground. Compaction caused by hooves is usually limited – but just as with a tractor, wet soils will compact more and you might want to bring the herd back inside if the soil is damp, especially if you already have soil compaction issues on that field. Frozen ground is generally well-protected against compaction by animal hooves.

If you had a dry year, then the lower stalks (which comprise a large percentage of your residue biomass) are likely to be high in nitrates. That can cause nitrate poisoning in animals that feed on them – be careful about grazing on fields that suffered drought. Nitrate levels will break down over time, though, so you don’t usually need to worry about what happened in prior years. In addition, if there is grain on the field as well as corn, be sure that your cows get hay or other feed before they get at the grain to prevent foundering.

Not only does residue foraging save you money on feed costs, it also cuts your fertilizer bill for the next season. Cows like to eat, and eating has a natural consequence – and that 1,000 pound cow is going to drop about 63 pounds of “natural consequence” on your field every day. Be sure to take that additional fertilizer into consideration when designing your fertilizer strategy for next year.

Looking to boost your farm’s income over the next few years? You can always hope for higher commodity prices – although things have been softening up there recently so that might not be a winning strategy. Unlike some other businesses, farmers generally don’t get much input in the prices they receive for their products. So improving the farm’s bottom line generally means either making and selling more product, or cutting costs. Here are a few ideas for doing the latter.

Tip 1: Go Organic

Organic farming techniques are more labor-intensive, but zero out some of your largest line-item costs. No pesticide spray passes, no weedkiller applications – it adds up. If you’ve got more time/hands than you have work, and less money than you have bills, a switch to organic production methods can make hard financial sense.

Tip 2: Let Mother Nature Feed Them

If you’re maintaining a dairy herd, consider moving to natural pasturage rather than confining your herd and providing the feed. This interesting article details some of the findings of research around grazing, and it may surprise you. The conventional wisdom is that naturally grazed cows produce less milk – and they do. The surprising part is, they don’t produce much less milk – and the net financial output per cow is as much as two or three times higher, even after taking into account the increased management work of keeping track of pasturage and moving animals around.

Natural grazing doesn’t just mean letting the herd out onto the first open field you see and trusting to luck – you’ll need to understand what your soil conditions are, ensure that there’s enough nutritional energy in the available forage, etc.

Tip 3: Get Bigger or Change Businesses

The simple truth is that for conventional farming techniques, small herds lose money. If a herd has less than 500 animals, then you’re not likely to be at the break-even point for your fixed operational costs. If you can expand into the profitable range, then that might be worth looking into. If you can switch to organic production, that’s one way to keep a small herd viable. Otherwise, sell your small herd and the associated equipment and use the money to optimize your other farming activities.

Tip 4: Get a New Lease on Life

If you are leasing your land, one way to cut costs is to change the terms of your lease. Rather than a cash arrangement, consider going to a share-lease arrangement. The downside is that if you have a great year, you don’t keep all the profits – but the upside is that a portion of your operational costs get charged to the landlord instead of to your bottom line. If your farm steadily makes a profit, this is a bad option – but if like most farmers you have good years and bad, then a share-lease can make the bad years much more survivable.

Now that you have that spiffy new tractor or planter, what to do with the old one?  There are a few things that you can do to make your trash another man’s treasure with only a little effort. 

1.       Love at first sight.  How often did you look at the rusty truck sitting for sale on the side of the road?   Chances are, not ever.  Take that rusty truck, add some sanding, primer and paint and it looks as good as the day it rolled off the lot.  It is a proven fact that the first thing people take note of is outward appearance.  That can be applied to nearly everything – including farm equipment.  By taking that old piece of equipment and putting in a few hours work you could automatically increase the price by about $500.  A friend of mine did this with a horse trailer that was originally priced at $800 and got zero calls.  After some paint, she was able to sell it for $1500 within a week. 

2.       Extra-Extra read all about it!  Now is the time to hit the web.  You can reach a wide variety of potential buyers by using free classifieds.  There are tons of such Web sites out there.  http://craigslist.org and http://usa4sale.com are two of the biggest that are available.  There are others that are specialized for farm equipment sales like http://tractorsandfarming.com, and http://usfarmer.com.  Their Web sites provide a wealth of buyers and sellers looking to find anything from a weed trimmer to a vintage tractor and all the parts to fix it.  (Also consider contacting a reseller like http://www.ssbtractor.com)

Reach your local audience too.  Run an add in the local paper, make simple fliers and stick them at the feed and seed, local coffee shop, gas station - wherever the local crowd tends to mill about.  Even try attaching them to the bulletin board in the office of you local grain elevator or FSA office. 

(If you use fliers, make them eye catching – use a bright colored printer paper, or use basic white paper and let the kids decorate.  Whatever it takes to make your piece of paper stuck to the wall more noticeable than the others.)

3.       Maybe you don’t have any desire to mess with trying to sell it yourself- you just want it out of the way.  Here are a couple of options.

Like the George Straight song says, “just give it away.”  Maybe there is someone else that can benefit from your hand-me-downs.  It could even be donated to a local organization like the 4-H chapter or F.F.A.   Donating to non-profit organizations could also gives you a tax write off.  You can find your local 4-h chapter by visiting this Web site http://www.csrees.usda.gov/Extension/index.html.  Contact the area high school to find out more information about donating to FFA (www.ffa.org). 

Another option is to make it a business deal.  Perhaps you have a son or grandson or even a friend of the family’s boy that would be interested in working on a piece of equipment in order to sell.  Set a deadline, maybe give them a small budget and let them have at it.   When it sells, you split the money on it.  Not only does it do you a favor, but it also gives the youngster an opportunity to do some problem solving , learn something about mechanics, and practice in business dealings as well. 

4.      Feeling scrappy?  Depending on the condition, it may be easier to scrap out the metal and take it to the recycling center. Price of steel per pound seems to vary by region.  It generally ranges from 60 cents per pound to a dollar.  A lot of people have made this another form of income to compensate for the rising cost of living.  Check out www.scrap.com  for up to date prices on steel.  They also provide browsers with local buyers of scrap throughout the country.  Not only are you recouping some money out of an investment, you are also helping the environment by recycling!

These are just a few ideas.  In order to make your selling effort a success, advertise well and be persistent.  The right buyer is out there hunting just as hard as you are.  Good luck!