We just finished the February issue of CropLife® magazine, and it’s a dandy. This 96-page issue is jam-packed with articles covering the width and breadth of our industry — beginning with the cover story, “Answering What Comes Next.”
The focus is on fertilizer — a market sector that has been up and down in recent history and the subject of the majority of comments you’ve been sending us in response to CropLife eNews each week. But instead of just looking at where the fertilizer market has been, CropLife Editor Eric Sfiligoj rises to the challenge of helping you look at where it’s going this spring and how that affects your dealership.
How does he do that? He sat down with five industry insiders a few weeks ago to get their perspectives on the fertilizer marketplace. The panel included: Seth Ricketts of Ricketts Farm Service, Salisbury, MO; W.P. (Bill) Jackson of AgriServices of Brunswick LLC, Brunswick, MO; Ford West of The Fertilizer Institute; Steve Taylor of the Missouri Agribusiness Association; and Rex Martin of Syngenta Crop Protection, who weighed in on how the uncertainty in the fertilizer marketplace is impacting the crop protection field.
I don’t want to give too much away, but I will tell you that this was an honest, no-holds-barred roundtable discussion and I think you’ll find it fascinating, insightful, and useful. It should inspire some really great conversations at your retail outlet — and also online at www.croplife.com. Here’s just a small sampling of the comments from the panel discussion:
- “I can remember the big fertilizer shortages of 1972, 1973, and 1974. And you know, boys, we haven’t learned a damned thing."
- “The other important lesson a lot of retailers have probably learned this year – the importance of layering your inventory.”
- “But it comes down to the grower. Right now, the best time to buy fertilizer is tomorrow. When that changes and the best time to buy was yesterday, that’s when this whole thing will break loose.”
The February issue should arrive in your inbox soon, polybagged with the latest Precision Agriculture Special Report: Product Review. Until then, may all your off-season decisions have a positive impact on your upcoming season.
