Corn question --- showing my oldness

[FarmboyBill]

What is NH3? Is it a liquid fertilizer, or a liquid herbicide< and why is it dangerous?

[hillsidedigger]

NH3 is simply ammonia, as opposed to ammonium nitrate, NH4NO3, a common fertilizer that can be made into a bomb.

[rambler]

It is nitrogen fertilizer.

At normal air pessure it is a gas. It _loves_ water, and will suck up/suck onto/ use up any water it can get to. That makes it real dangerous to breath or be in. It will dry you up - mess up your lungs. Kill you.

It is otherwise rather inert & not otherwise harmful. It just kills you looking for moisture when it is in a concentrated cloud.

It is contaned in the big white tanks, look like - pretty much are - big LP fuel tanks. When stored at 100+ lbs of pressure, it becomes a liquid & you can get a lot in the tank.

It must be knifed intot he ground, 5 inches deep, because it becomes a gas when released. It quickly hugs onto any water molicules in the dirt, & then converts itself in a week or 3 to useful N.

--->Paul

[Up North]

Rambler - How much per acre do you apply to your corn ground? How much increase in cost do you plan for 2007 crop year compared to 2006?...Oh, and when do you normally knife it in?

[rambler]

I put down 120# of actual N per acre. I rely upon 40# available from my beans, and I hope to get a bu of corn per .8 to .9 lb of N.

Perhaps 1/2 of the people around here put down the N after harvest, when the soil temp is below 50 degrees. I did that one year, but much of my land gets very wet during snow melt in spring, & I don't like the risk of losing the N or 'adding a bit more' to make up for any losses.

Perhaps 3/4s of the time I apply the N before planting in spring, and 1/4 of the time I sidedress it, between rows to the standing corn.

I prepaid for my N in early January, and got close to last years price. Kinda forgot what it was - think $32 an acre. I hear it is higher, tho no shortages, now.

--->Paul

[Up North]

So are you budgeting for 150 bu./acre corn?
What's the going cash rent for corn/bean ground in your area?
What do you figure are total costs per acre to put in corn crop(and do it right,LOL)?

[rambler]

Rent ranges from 95-155 an acre. Going up fast tho, most without long term leases will be on the top end by next year, and more. Land that sold for $2400 3 years ago was $3150 a year ago, and $4100 this year. Not developer - for farming. Tho we get a lot of 1031 activity here, being 100 miles from the 'Cities. They can outbid the local farmers.

I am a poor business man, I can't quote you that per acre number. I'm old school, carry the numbers in my head, and know what is working & what isn't, but I can't just drop those numbers on paper for someone else.

Been changing a lot the past few years, went to 15 inch bean rows, adding some N fixer to the bean seed, did soil samples this fall (turns out what I've been applying is about right on), stopped wfall tillage on the bean stubble, and so on. Maybe in 2-3 years I'll be a little more on top of the numbers. Yield has gone up for me at close to the same input costs, so I'm happy. Just not a numbers person in any way that anyone else can figure the numbers I use.....

--->Paul

[Up North]

Folks around here were at $110/acre to put in crop for corn silage to feed milk cows, that's why i was wondering.
My buddy Cletis farms corn and beans down west of Algona Iowa. They just switched from 8RW to 12R N planters. He says last 5 years only profit left over was in the LDP. Land there is about same price as yours, but it's farmers that are buying it. He was also a career auctioneer and ran custom corn shelling business for many years. His son farms and has an autobody shop in town to stay busy in the winter. They figure 150 bu./acre corn covers the bills and any yield above that is where the profit starts. Drying costs can really affect profit for them now that picking ears and corncribs have disappeared from the landscape.

[michiganfarmer]

$110 for land lease?? holy crap!. its in the high $30s here,lol. Im sure the ground here isnt as good either. Do either of you use, or heard of using pig manure instead of commercial fertiliser?

[rambler]

There is not much manure bought or sold. Most farmers have enough ground to apply it to their own land. Some folks have trades - neighbor trades cornstalk bales for heifer manure. I don't know the details, but probably acre for acre.

Manure is good, those that have it want it.

Man, $30 an acre. I don't think it was that low in my lifetime, & that's a lot of decades. I'm sure it works out, you must not get yield.

--->Paul

[agmantoo]

I have read that the drying costs are more than offset by the higher yield on gets through drying. I do not recall what the name is of the small end of the kernel is called but field dried corn loses that end to the cob where high moisture corn retains the end to the kernel thus giving greater weight. Land rent here in western NC is much much cheaper ($45/acre) with lower yields (135 bu/acre with higher input costs) but land prices per acre are significantly much higher ($8k/acre up).

[michiganfarmer]

Originally Posted by rambler

There is not much manure bought or sold. Most farmers have enough ground to apply it to their own land. Some folks have trades - neighbor trades cornstalk bales for heifer manure. I don't know the details, but probably acre for acre.

Manure is good, those that have it want it.

Man, $30 an acre. I don't think it was that low in my lifetime, & that's a lot of decades. I'm sure it works out, you must not get yield.

--->Paul

Ive never planted corn. I think the local guys are getting around 100 bushels to the acre