The Dakotan:
This is Ag Issues with Neil Roberts.
Neil Roberts:
Welcome to another edition of Ag Issues. Our guest today is industry research agronomist Eric Ericksmoen from the North Central Research Extension Center. And Eric, we're in the pre planting stage right now. What are growers leaning into to seed this year? Do you think.
Eric Ericksmoen:
The farmers that I'm talking to are basically going to stick to their guns and do what they know how to do? So there seems to be interest in small grains and continued interest in pulse crops. Some interest in soybeans, obviously. So probably a little less on purchasing new small grain seed with growing conditions the way they are. I think farmers are telling me that they're probably not going to buy a lot of new seed, use what they have and try and go a little lean this year.
Neil Roberts:
All right. Good stuff, Eric. When we come back, we'll talk fertilizer.
The Dakotan:
You're listening to Ag Issues with Neil Roberts on the Dakotan Network.
Neil Roberts:
Talking spring planting with Eric. Eric smiling today on ag issues. And Eric, what do you think the fertilizer outlook looks like right now?
Eric Ericksmoen:
We're still struggling with how we're going to deal with our fertilizer, specifically fertilizer prices. Availability may be an issue at some point in time, but how do we efficiently put fertilizer onto our crops? And one thing that we know we can do is a little bit of delayed fertilizer applications. So go ahead and plant your small grains and you basically have a month where you can influence yield.
Eric Ericksmoen:
So if conditions don't improve, then you're not out on that fertilizer. If they do improve, then you can apply fertilizer within that first month after planting and your yields should hang in there.
Neil Roberts:
All right. Good stuff, Eric. Thanks for that. And that brings this report to a close. If you missed one, check us on the website agissues.com. Until next time. I'm Neil Roberts.
The Dakotan:
You're listening to the Dakotan Network. Real, Honest, Local News.
