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Michigan farmer: We can’t cut back on inputs anymore

A northern Michigan farmer says he’s concerned about crop protection pricing and availability in 2025. 

Scott Miller says he’s already planning to lower input usage and can’t risk further reductions.

“We fertilize every acre. We put on just enough for the crop that we’re growing,” he says. “We’re really not in a position to cut anymore, but we continue to try to focus on getting it in the right place next to the seed. We’ve kind of got things thin enough off already, so we’re just try to keep being as efficient as possible.”

He tells Brownfield recently announced tariffs on Canada could pose a threat to the U.S. potash supply. 

“Unfortunately, so much of our stuff comes from Canada, comes from Russia, comes from the Ukraine,” he says. “A lot of that fertility comes from these other countries. Now we’ve got tariffs and we’ve got all that. Sometimes you got to play hard to get with it sometimes, but it always seems like the farmers take the blunt of a lot of that stuff.”

Miller says the industry needs to focus on producing materials inside of the U.S. to help bring down pricing.

Brownfield talked to Miller during the 2025 Commodity Classic in Denver, Colorado.

AUDIO: Scott Miller