The reality of rising costs?

[cowman]

It would seem that most of the agribusiness in this country had a very good year? I would suggest most farmers had a fairly poor year? Grain and oil seed prices really suck and inputs are pricey? Top it off with some pretty ugly weather this year in a lot of places?
The neighbor bought his fertilizer and canola seed for next spring just before Christmas. He showed me the bill and anhydrous was $760 and the canola seed was $294/bag...and that didn't include the $15/acre patent fee!...well sure hope canola is worth more than $5/bu next year!
I rent some grainland out to a cousin and there was a 5000 bu bin that was getting shaky. The original bin was built early nineties and cost $5000 with a wood floor. Anyway we decided to replace the floor and one ring(the idiots who built it crimped it and it was started to get a good slant). Total cost including a steel floor and 12 yards of gravel- $3910, which I paid for. Don't know if that was very smart or not but at least I can sell it somewhere down the road when my cousin gets sick of losing money growing grain!
I guess my question is this: How smart is it to keep farming with high inputs for little or no return? This year my cousin sprayed for wildoats, broadleafs, later Tilt and finally a preharvest roundup shot...all by a custom operator. It was a very good crop but harvest was tough and the barley is sitting in the bin at 16% moisture, moving slowly but steadily to a feedlot!
I believe next year is canola in my cousins rotation and that usually does all right but sure hope the price is better than this year?

[Rodjam]

In my opinion it doesn't make one lick of sense to keep at it.

But if you want to keep living like this, don't mind your spouse ( not to mention you spouse not minding ) putting there off farm income into it, and working out , and with a bit of luck have a gas well or something like that lying around and maybe even had dad give a sweet deal to get rolling in the business or maybe even just sit on the financial coat tails of dad, then it may look like the reality of rising cost are not so bad .

I guess it comes down to what you are willing to put up with and without too.

Isn't that a prerequisit to be in agriculture today ?

[rookie]

Yes the writting is on the wall.

Does anyone ever read it?

I suppose its a matter of what someone is will to put with .

I look around and see who is still at it and why ?

There is a big variety of situations and reasons such that the economics ( although everyone talks about them) alone don't decide the outcome.

Maybe thats the way its suppose to be?
People do what they like and what they know.

[cakadu]

Isn't it more a case of what they don't know - or want to accept is maybe more the case - is really hurting?

That's why energy feedstocks coming from biomass - whatever it may be - should be where producers are heading. Perhaps instead of growing short stalked barley, where everything goes into the heads, we need to grow longer straw barley so that the resulting straw is worth a whole lot more.

Or how about multi-species cropping and economies of scope where rows of nitrogen fixing plants are grown beside plants that need nitrogen to do well?

The days of mono-cropping and growing things we cannot sell are fast coming to a close. What if we were to grow things that could have higher value in the marketplace and more competition for them?

If nothing else, getting more for your production would offset the rising input costs and give alternatives to producers.

[cowman]

Linda I would agree that some diversified crops might be the way to go. Now hemp(not the smoking kind) is an amazing plant that with the right infrastructure in place could revolutionize the world! Could practically wipe out the forest industry? As well as a lot of the textile industry, pharmeceutical industry, plastics/petroleum industry? Unfortunately we have this mentality of it is a crazed drug sort of thing...fostered by the pulp and paper industry! Not much support from the government when they are still lost in the war on drugs!
One advantage of having a lot of European immigrants in our area is they have seen the results of growing crops for bio mass? There is a Dutch farmer west of Red Deer who sold his dairy herd in Holland and emigrated here. He still retains his land in Holland and goes back each spring to plant his land to maize for the local bio gas plant. Owns probably the biggest dairy in Red Deer County(400 cows). He tells me that the maize grows 5 meters high and pays more than anything else he might grow!
Now I doubt that is possible here but the idea is if we intend to keep farming with rising inputs, then we need to get more for our product? I find it interesting that silage production seems to be profitable...if you own the cattle it is going through!
Cattle and other livestock do add value to our grain, the problem is the grainfarmer might not be getting enough of the pie to continue to survive?
The most valuable crop you could possibly grow is a subdivision...but not sure if that is sustainable...or desirable!
My own formula is get rid of every possible input you can(within reason). I think owning machinery is one of the highest inputs around? At a pursuing profits seminar a banker giving a little speech said the major problem facing agriculture today is the high cost of machinery...and the farmers desire to own more! I think he was right?
Personally I think putting crop production through livestock is the way to go, however the rural population is getting older and livestock can be a lot of physical work? Not too many older farmers are very keen on owning livestock.