This Week in Ag #2

By Fred Nichols
Chief Marketing Officer,
Bio Huma Netics, Inc.

Are we looking at a fertilizer shortage? Guess it depends on your definition. The availability of fertilizer isn’t a major concern in the US. It really wasn’t last year, either. As a good friend (who I consider to be among the best farmers in the country) told me last winter, “you can get it, it’s just a matter of how much you’re willing to spend for it.” That’s the issue many farmers are facing right now. How much do I invest? And do I seek alternatives to traditional NPK sources? Many of these alternatives, such as humate-based products, offer high value, improved soil health and lower overall rates/expenditures. Fertilizer prices remain historically high, but there’s not the degree of market volatility expected as there was last year. As a result, Q4 sales have moved slower than last year. But while input prices remain high, so do crop prices. That is incentivizing many farmers to chase yield. A recent survey confirms just that. Demand is strong for all fertilizer categories. 60% of farmers expect to increase micronutrient usage in 2023, 59% will increase liquid fertilizer, 51% will increase specialty fertilizers and 48% will increase yield enhancers/growth managers. Last week’s World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report, which was bullish on the major commodity crops, should continue to carry momentum for yield chasers. [Read more…]

This Week in Ag #1

By Fred Nichols
Chief Marketing Officer,
Bio Huma Netics, Inc.

Curly fries, waffle fries, spicy fries or… regen fries? Soon, these may all be choices in the frozen foods aisle, at least if McCain Foods has a say in it. And as the world leader in prepared potato products, purchasing 6.8 million tons of spuds annually, McCain carries a strong voice. Their commitment to sustainability includes a pledge to have regen ag practices used on all their potato acres by 2030. The company has entered the Metaverse and designed this virtual game where players grow their own potatoes and learn about regen practices. Thus far, a staggering 2.8 billion visitors—that’s about one-third of the world’s population—have experienced “Farms of the Future.” All-natural, humic-based crop nutrients may soon become a key ingredient in the recipe for regen fries. [Read more…]

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