Tackling rising input costs

Farmers are increasingly facing more intense challenges for growers and their operations. Topping growers' list of concerns? Input prices. The Ag Economy Barometer from Purdue and the CME Group shows low farmer sentiment due to rising input costs threatening to squeeze out profits from strong commodity prices. While rising inputs can be difficult to deal with, it also gives growers an opportunity to reevaluate their practices and creatively push themselves and their operations toward profitability despite the challenges.

Darrin Unruh is an Indigo Agronomist and grower in south central Kansas. He says concentrating on soil health might be the best way to battle back rising inputs and learn how to lower input costs. “I've got some friends that went down the soil health path, because they didn't have a choice,” he said “They needed to do something different to remain profitable.” But Unruh says you shouldn’t wait until the situation is dire to start reaping the benefits of building soil health, which transfer straight to your bottom line. “You can start dropping inputs year one,” he adds. "Besides reducing input costs, you might notice more earthworms, better water infiltration, and fewer weeds– all of which are signs you are building soil health." For other early signs of success in your soil health journey, click here.

Unruh adds that it’s best to build your soil health plan with a trusted expert who understands your operation. While individual plans will differ, all growers can benefit from their soil health journey,  not only through decreased inputs, but through the new revenue streams it can bring. 

Carbon programs allow you to monetize soil health. Practices like incorporating cover crops and reducing tillage not only improve water infiltration, reduce weed, pest, and disease pressures, and combat expensive problems like compaction, they also sequester carbon. Through these practice changes, you can create carbon credits. Companies buy those credits (along with reducing their own emissions) as an aid to reduce their carbon footprint. “ If you have a healthy soil and a healthy soil microbiome that's sequestering carbon, all of a sudden the things that we thought were problems are addressed through soil health, and you’ve built a new revenue stream” says Unruh. (To learn more about how concentrating on soil health can increase your profitability, read here.)

Rising input costs and how to reduce input costs are certainly problematic for growers and causing the most concern as growers put the finishing touches on their yearly plan. However, every year brings different challenges and concerns– commodity prices, weather events, equipment costs, etc. Instead of battling each new concern with each new year, Unruh says it’s best to shift your mindset towards building a resilient operation through soil health. “My buddy had t-shirts made up that says, ‘Soil is the answer, now what's the question?’,” said Unruh. “It’s the perfect mindset to have as we think about all the pressures and unpredictable circumstances we deal with as growers, including rising input costs,” he adds.