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Absolutely….when
considering your fertility for the 2006 growing season THERE IS MUCH
MORE TO CONSIDER THAN THE PRICE PER TON! No matter what the crop or the
number of acres you farm, we want to present the following facts so you
can make a sound decision as to where and from whom you should buy your
spring crop nutrients. As you know, we represent the member Co-ops of
Alabama Farmers Cooperative; and the majority of Alabama counties are
represented by one of our members.
We
know that price is very important and in the past few years, with the
price of natural gas and other factors that we discussed last year,
fertilizer has equaled or exceeded the late 1970 prices on the farm.
When buying fertilizer, the price per ton is important, but in many
cases no more important than many other factors.
From
Whom Are You Buying???
This
should be one of your first considerations when making a very sound
decision. HONESTY, INTEGRITY, RELIABILITY, ABILITY, LOCATION, EQUIPMENT,
RESOURCES behind the retailer and HOME TOWN staff are some of the very
important aspects we ask you to look at when planning a fertility
program today. When a supplier comes offering you a lower price, you
must look at all the factors that go into servicing you. The reputation
of your Co-op store manager and his staff goes a long way in continuing
to keep your farming operation profitable.
Your
Co-op store has made a sizeable investment in facilities and equipment
to service the local farmer. Many of the suppliers calling on farmers
today do not have local facilities or equipment, just a lower price–and
many times it only looks lower. Be sure you compare oranges to oranges
(many times we see an apple thrown in with them to cut quality and the
price).
AFC
through its Crop Nutrient, Crop Protection and Seed subsidiary AGRI-AFC,
LLC has invested in strategically located terminals with excellent
equipment to assure the local Co-op that they will have a supply of high
quality crop nutrients at a competitive price, but these facilities cost
money and, in order to maintain and replace these very efficient
locations, returns on investments are necessary.
AFC
is very proud of Agri-AFC’s locations with a LARGE river/rail terminal
in Decatur servicing the Tennessee Valley with liquid and dry crop
nutrients. This terminal has over three million gallons of liquid
fertilizer storage.
Agri-AFC
has a rail terminal in Montgomery, known as Ag Services, handling a
large volume of dry crop nutrients with blending operations and
killabrew rentals. This terminal can store over 20,000 tons of crop
nutrients to meet the needs of local farmers.
A
liquid rail terminal is located at Selma’s Craig Industrial Park, with
storage of a large tonnage servicing east central Alabama.
Rattlesnake
Bend is a rail terminal with dry warehouse, dry blending services, with
large liquid storage and a liquid blending plant located at Forkland
(Demopolis) servicing row crops, pastures, and the forestry industry.
In
Dothan, Agri-AFC has a large dry blending plant with a great deal of dry
storage and a bagging operation. Known as Red Fox Fertilizer, the
facility has large liquid storage and a liquid blending plant to service
southeast Alabama and southwest Georgia.
Our
newest facility is in Evergreen, known as Farmers Favorite Fertilizer
offering dry blending (including killabrew rentals), with large storage
and a very modern bagging plant to help Red Fox meet the bag fertilizer
demand. This facility was just added to the Agri-AFC family March 1,
2006, to assure a large supply of crop nutrients for our member stores
in south Alabama.
Many
times I mentioned large storage………THERE IS A VERY GOOD REASON FOR
LARGE STORAGE. For many years the transportation industry was very
efficient and could keep a few smaller terminals with material on a
timely basis. Today we are in a GLOBAL economy and much of the
fertilizer you will purchase will come from other countries. We can no
longer count on the domestic producers to keep pace with the demands of
U.S. agriculture, nor can we count on the transportation industry to
deliver fertilizer at the correct location ON TIME.
High
natural gas prices and low returns (actually losses) have closed many
plants across the country. Mississippi Chemical of Yazoo City, MS, was a
mainstay in the Southeast and now it is gone. Terra Industries purchased
the facilities; however, when gas prices get high they shut the plant
down because it is not profitable.
Large
storage of both dry and liquid fertilizer crop nutrients are a necessity
to assure our MEMBER CO-OPS, and MORE IMPORTANT, YOU, of crop
nutrients to meet your spring planting needs. You, the grower,
benefit the most from the INVESTMENT in Land, Buildings, Tanks, and
Equipment! Your local Co-op owns the regional (Alabama Farmers
Cooperative) and they invest for YOU.
Distribution
Buying
early and storing material in multiple locations assures you, the
grower, of competitive pricing and, most of all, products in place close
to the point of usage. When considering your crop nutrient purchases you
need to determine where your retailer is located and where he is going
to obtain his fertilizer materials.
Price Per
Acre
Price
per acre in most cases is as important as the price per ton. A fertility
program costing $3.00 per acre more or less might equal $20.00 per ton,
yet may easily produce a crop yielding 10% more (or less). As an
example, it might cost $3.00/acre to add micro nutrients to an acre of
corn or cotton, and there is a great deal of research showing 7 to 10 bu. corn yield increases for a $3.00 investment. The extra $20.00/ton
looks like it is costing you, but is actually increasing your income $14
to $20.00 per acre (that equals 6.6 Ac per ton of purchased fertilizer X
$14.00 = $92.40 for $20.00 investment. That’s a profit of $72.40).
Please
don’t assume that if a ton of fertilizer compared is higher that it is
a bad buy. Quality alone is worth more than $3.00 per acre.
GOOD NEWS
for the Spring of 2006!
Crop
nutrient prices have leveled off and in some cases came down a small
amount. As we discussed last year, crop nutrients are a very good buy.
Compare them to seed, tractors, combines, pickers, and the high cost of
fuel. When you pencil out what a good fertility program will return, it
is a GREAT BUY!
Resources
Behind Your Co-op Retailer
Agri-AFC,
LLC has experienced, well trained professionals to support our members
and assist you in making those sound decisions in crop nutrient
programming to use the most efficient nutrient to make your investment
give you the greatest return. |
