The Ranger
02-14-2008, 10:51 AM
It has been quite some time since I've been on the board and I've read a few topics that I would like to comment on. It's is long buy this knowledge is free.
Fertilizer prices....
Our price for the 08 season (if we ordered the same amount & type of product in 07) is up 26%. There was another increase in Jan that we avoided by taking delivery in Dec. The rumor mill has the prices going up for all types of reason, but the four major reasons are: worldwide demand is up, (former third world countries Iapan, China, and India wanting to live better) domestic demand is up because of the increased corn acres planted. I believe it was almost 20 million more acres planted this yr. The cost of natural gas is up. Gas is used to convert carbon dioxiode and ammonia under high temp and high pressure to urea. When gas was $2 per 1000 cu.ft. it cost about $85 in gas, at $7 per M cu.ft. it cost about $235 in gas to make a ton of urea. Trasnportation costs are up.
When buying fertilizer buy the most amount of N in the bag for the lowest amount of money. Get away from the 25-?-? and move to a 32-?-? or a
34, 35-?-?. You might spend a $1-$2more per bag, but your are getting 16, 17, or greater coverage compared to 12.5M. Also lowering the P & K percentages will lower your cost. Someone told me the price of K per ton is over $500. Although you use very little in a bag think how much is in a truckload. Lowering can save as much a 50cents per bag.
Zspray vrs. Perma Green
We started a few years ago with 6 PG's. Thought they we the best thing since sliced bread until about 300 hours. Contstant breakdowns and maintenance problems. We skipped buying the ultras, but went to the next generation Magnums. What a mistake. They we better in some respect, but they came with a whole new set of problems. Usually starts around 300 hours. We made the switch for the 07 season to Z sprays. We could not be happier. Most of our 6 machines have 500+ hours on them with very minor maintenance problems. A cable, impeller or something like that. My guys love the z's They compare it to driving a corvette to an old clunker. We would not run PG's again if they gave us the machines vrs buying z's. We use 5 machines daily and have one backup at the shop just in case. We cannot afford down time. I also know two other LCO's that have parked their PG's because they could not keep up with the breakdowns. One has switched to Z's and loves them.
MY two cents....
Fertilizer prices....
Our price for the 08 season (if we ordered the same amount & type of product in 07) is up 26%. There was another increase in Jan that we avoided by taking delivery in Dec. The rumor mill has the prices going up for all types of reason, but the four major reasons are: worldwide demand is up, (former third world countries Iapan, China, and India wanting to live better) domestic demand is up because of the increased corn acres planted. I believe it was almost 20 million more acres planted this yr. The cost of natural gas is up. Gas is used to convert carbon dioxiode and ammonia under high temp and high pressure to urea. When gas was $2 per 1000 cu.ft. it cost about $85 in gas, at $7 per M cu.ft. it cost about $235 in gas to make a ton of urea. Trasnportation costs are up.
When buying fertilizer buy the most amount of N in the bag for the lowest amount of money. Get away from the 25-?-? and move to a 32-?-? or a
34, 35-?-?. You might spend a $1-$2more per bag, but your are getting 16, 17, or greater coverage compared to 12.5M. Also lowering the P & K percentages will lower your cost. Someone told me the price of K per ton is over $500. Although you use very little in a bag think how much is in a truckload. Lowering can save as much a 50cents per bag.
Zspray vrs. Perma Green
We started a few years ago with 6 PG's. Thought they we the best thing since sliced bread until about 300 hours. Contstant breakdowns and maintenance problems. We skipped buying the ultras, but went to the next generation Magnums. What a mistake. They we better in some respect, but they came with a whole new set of problems. Usually starts around 300 hours. We made the switch for the 07 season to Z sprays. We could not be happier. Most of our 6 machines have 500+ hours on them with very minor maintenance problems. A cable, impeller or something like that. My guys love the z's They compare it to driving a corvette to an old clunker. We would not run PG's again if they gave us the machines vrs buying z's. We use 5 machines daily and have one backup at the shop just in case. We cannot afford down time. I also know two other LCO's that have parked their PG's because they could not keep up with the breakdowns. One has switched to Z's and loves them.
MY two cents....