Cost of Production

Fertilizer prices were already elevated, but they’re now surging just weeks before spring planting. What can be done to ease costs in the short term as well as fix the problem for good?

High-yield growers David Hula and Randy Dowdy say three things deserve your sharpest focus now: your planter, fertility program and seed.

One possibility is the country’s vast oil reserves could offer long-term potential to ease diesel prices and help reduce other input costs.

Will 2026 be a repeat of 2016? Chris Barron, Ag View Solutions, shares four strategies to help farmers capture some profit in this down cycle.

A detailed “farming playbook” can help guide essential input investments and maximize ROI.

Planning for next season? Review the expert insights and recommendations from farmers and field agronomists on how to reduce costs and strategically reallocate resources.

USDA’s Brooke Rollins says the financial details will be unveiled next week. Some groups estimate payments could total in the neighborhood of $12 billion. “There’s people that can really use them. Everyone can use them…but we’re not getting real solutions,” says one Iowa farmer.

Several years of low commodity prices, high input costs and thin margins have taken a toll on soil stewardship in some parts of the country. As a result, farmers need to use caution and do their homework before renting ground that’s coming available in their area for 2026.

The companion piece to the Senate’s Fertilizer Research Act of 2025 has the same, ultimate goal: to provide U.S. farmers with more clarity on the pricing of crop nutrients, lawmakers say.