Strong Corn Prices Come at a Cost

Sep 07, 2021

Soybeans could pencil out a profit of $150 per acre next year, substantially more than corn, with an average price of $12.35 per bushel. The big difference: Farmers who grow corn will spend three times as much on fertilizer this season.

Sinclair said the last time fertilizer prices spiked like this was in 2008, but prices fell back the following year.

“Will we see a similar reality check for corn and fertilizer prices in 2022? I think it might take until 2023 before prices come back down,” Sinclair said. “World ending stocks are so low, it may take another year to build up a safety net of grain stocks.”

Kansas City Federal Reserve ag economist Nathan Kauffman said input costs are often quick to catch up to higher commodity prices but slow to come back down.

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Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.