Wow!!!  Where did all the time go? The new fertilizer building in Parkers was finished in the first days of October. We used it a little for the fall season; so far, it has performed up to our expectations. We are in the process of filling it now. With the new building, we now have additional storage and will not be as de­pendant on trucks for timely delivery of product from the river terminals. Fertilizer prices are down from a year ago. Urea is about $50 dol­lars less than 2009. Supply is tight, with foreign countries willing to pay more for it than the U.S.A. farmers are. There are very few vessels in route to here so supply could get quite tight if there is a big increase in corn acres. Sup­plies will be adequate for top-dress. Phosphate prices bottomed out; and are $100 dollars a ton higher than fall due to significant exports and curtailed production. They are still about $200 dollars a ton cheaper than a year ago. AMS is a concern due to the loss of production caused by the bad weather last fall on the east coast. The manufacturer has not accepted any orders since then and says they will have limited tons available this spring. We procured supply from Canada to cover normal sales. This product is white like urea, not brown/black like the east coast product. It is the same analysis as before.  Current prices are $150 dollars a ton cheaper than 2009. Potash is the one product that that has not come down proportionally compared to the others. It is about $300 dollars a ton cheaper than this same time in 2009. The Canadian producers have decided that if they cannot get the price they think they need that they will not sell it, in fact they just raised prices the first of the month. There are several major concerns for this spring. There is not a lot of excess product around in storage anywhere. There will be transportation issues on the river due to lock & dam repair, plus the possibility of flooding due to the wet fall along with all the moisture this winter. The biggest unknown is the acreage mix; will there be more corn or soybeans? One other change that you will notice is on all chemical in­voices. The State of Minnesota has changed the laws on the collection of the ground water fee and ACRRA surcharge. The law states that these fees must be shown on the chemical invoice and collected at the time of sale. Before Pro Ag just paid these fees for you but it has to be done this way according to the new laws.

With the late fall there is lots that needs to be done this spring season, please plan ahead and notify us as early as you can so we can schedule equipment and manpower as needed.

See you at the annual meeting