Business Briefs Press Republican Published Sunday, February 17, 2008=

Published Sunday, February 17, 2008

Press Republic= an

Business briefs: Feb 17, 2008

Learn to cope= with rising crop production costs

CHAZY -- Blame it on the increasing price of oil, more= crop acreage in the U.S., m= ore corn in China, ethanol, or politics. Farmers will pay a lot more per ton for fertilizer in 2008, says Ev Thomas, vice president of agricultural programs at W.H. M= iner Agricultural Research Institute, Chazy. Attend making the Most of Your Fertilizer Dollar workshops in Northern New York in March.

The fertilizer-focused programs will be held March 17 = at Gumas Restaurant in Chazy and March 18 at the 911 Bui= lding in Malone. Meetings will be held later in the week in Canton, Lowville, and Watertown.

Thomas says fertilizer prices may be twice as much as = USDA predictions. He says, "I would say $600 per ton for urea is not out of= the question. 2008 would be a dandy year to develop a fertilizer plan based on = soil analysis and taking full credit for nutrients provided to soil by manure applications."

The March meetings will feature nutrient management re= search funded in part by the Northern New York Agricultural Development Program th= at has shown that farmers can reduce fertilizer applications on some corn and = hay fields without negatively impacting crop yield or quality.

Dr. Quirine M. Ketterings of Cornell University will speak on nutrient management research at all the March meetings

Thomas says a survey of seed sellers indicates seed pr= ices will rise by more than the four percent USDA pre= dicts.

"Seed costs are just one more reason why northern= New York farmers should attend the "Making the= Most of Your Fertilizer Dollar" workshops in March and make use of the regi= onal research data on nutrient management made possible by Cornell University<= /st1:PlaceType> researchers and funding from the Northern New York Agricultural Development Program.

For more information on the mid-March fertilizer meeti= ngs, contact Cornell Cooperative Extension. Information on fertilizer applicatio= ns, nutrient balancing and soil surveys is available on the Northern New York Agricultural Development Program website at www.nnyagdev.org.