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Southeast Nebraska farmer sees $50K spike in fertilizer costs

Some farmers are feeling the sticker shock of higher costs as they gear up for the growing season.

Southeast Nebraska farmer Ben Steffen says he’s stuck on the cost of fertilizer. “That’s a $50,000 increase and hit to my economic bottom line. $50,000 on my farm. We didn’t budget for that. In fact, before this happened, we were operating in the red already.”

During a webinar hosted by Nebraska for Us, Steffen says higher diesel prices are adding a $1 per gallon per tractor. “I would expect that over the next 8 weeks this is going to cost me an extra $4,000 to $5,000 in fuel because I don’t anticipate and no one else anticipates the fuel price to come down.”

Nebraska for Us is an advocacy group consisting of farmers, trade groups and small businesses that provide awareness to issues impacting rural communities.

Illinois Representative Nikki Budzinksi, a Democrat on the House Ag Committee, says she’s hearing similar concerns from farmers in her district. “Inputs like fuel, like fertilizer, like equipment and then labor are still very expensive leaving margins razor thin or sometimes they’re not existent. That’s what I hear.”

Steffen and Budzinski also say the operating costs are making it harder for producers to receive loan renewals and forcing producers to make additional cut backs on inputs.