Gage County
1115 West Scott St.,
Beatrice NE 68310
Phone: (402) 223-1384
FAX: (402) 223-1370

News Column

Paul C Hay, Extension Educator

Fertilizer Surprises

Carbon makes the world go round and now turns into coin for Gage County farmers. For the first time ever, carbon credits have been sold on the Chicago Climate Exchange with the proceeds coming to Eighty Seven Gage County no-till farmers. "Just a little Christmas surprise", said one Gage County farmer. It is likely that several more checks will come in the next few months all adding up to between one and two dollars per acre. Not a large pay out, but not bad for a completely new venture. One farmer said, "It has already paid me more than $50 per hour for the time it took me to enroll." The Iowa Farm Bureau is helping with the project. No-till farmers not currently enrolled but interested in enrolling in the next pool before April 2, 2006 can contact the Extension Office for information. They would be in a pool which would be 100% no-till from 2006 to 2010. Farmers with a current contract will have a simple process mailed out by Iowa Farm Bureau this winter to re-enroll if they so chose.

Nitrogen quiz: In terms of actual pounds of nitrogen, what is the most used source of fertilizer nitrogen in Nebraska? Okay smart aleck (the guy I tried this on was a former employee of one of the fertilizer plants at Hoag) - all fertilizer nitrogen comes from natural gas powered anhydrous ammonia plants capturing nitrogen from the air at a high energy cost.

Lets' try again - which is used most liquid, dry or gas (liquid N 28percent/32percent, urea/ammonium nitrate or anhydrous ammonia)? The answer is a surprise to me. Liquid N makes up 60 percent on Nebraska nitrogen sales. Anhydrous ammonia makes up 26 percent and urea (the largest dry source) makes up 11 percent of sales.

What will the future bring? It is entirely possible that a combination of market factors will make urea the number one nitrogen source. The price of energy in the form of natural gas is much lower in Carribean, Eastern Europe and Western Asia markets. The easiest shipment form for nitrogen is urea. Advanced technology will likely yield slow release polymer coated urea fertilizers designed for fertilizer release as the crop needs it. This could even bring an opportunity to Beatrice in the refitting of one of our fertilizer plants. The price of the first of these coating options available for urea has already dropped nearly 50 percent making it a more real option for increased use.

Nitrogen fertilizer use has not fallen dramatically in Nebraska as a result of groundwater concerns. What has happened is that we used 1.6 pounds of nitrogen fertilizer per bushel of corn and milo grain produced in 1965. Today we use under 1.0 pounds per bushel. Fertilizer has not gone down in use, brain production has increased at static fertilizer use. More is possible and I feel that the current nitrogen price to corn/milo price relationship will lead us to more efficiency factors. The 1.0 pounds per bushel level is likely just a stepping stone along the way to a future .7 or .8 level which is very achievable.

A Happy Holiday Season from your Gage County Extension Staff. If we have not answered a question for you, your family, or your business, we need to get together soon.

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