Farmers at the Fort Wayne Farm Show this week are making plans for the 2022 growing season. Rising input costs dominated the conversation at just about every booth as nitrogen fertilizer and herbicide prices remain at elevated levels.
Seed Genetics Direct Vice President Todd Jeffries says the most important thing is to have a plan and stick to it as close as you can.
“If you can raise a good corn crop, it still pencils out right now with the way the prices are. If you’re going to struggle to raise a good corn crop, I don’t think beans are a bad idea to go a little bit heavier on beans. What we don’t want, we don’t want any kneejerk reactions. I think it’s always best to come up with a plan and follow it the best you can.”
Jeffries adds those corn vs. soybean decisions are made harder because of the herbicide market right now.
“A lot of things are in short supply. Prices… I think I saw a generic glufosinate price quoted at $127 a gallon, which a year ago I think we were under $30 a gallon on that. So, if you can get ahold of the herbicides that you need, I strongly recommend it, but I don’t think we all need to panic buy.”
As far as seed is concerned, Jeffries is excited about a number of hybrids and varieties from Seed Genetics Direct for ’22. You can hear more about those in the full HAT interview below.
As you’re making those plans for ’22, Jeffries explains that one big difference between Seed Genetics Direct and the other seed companies out there is that they publish their seed prices in their seed guide.
“It is a little bit different and odd in the industry, for whatever reason. Every, and I do mean every, other company other than us wants to hide the price. They don’t want you to know what you’re paying compared to what your neighbor is paying and compared to what your father-in-law is paying and who’s getting the kickbacks, who’s getting the free trips. Our price is our price. Nobody’s getting a free trip. It’s kind of hard to build a business when you don’t know what the cost of your inputs are, so we want you to know what the cost of your inputs are because we want to know what the costs of ours are.”
You can find Seed Genetics Direct at the Fort Wayne Farm Show in booth 1019 from 9am-4pm on Thursday. They’ll also be at the National Farm Machinery Show in Louisville next month and at Commodity Classic in New Orleans in March.
