That's with broadcast application. Rehm says the cost of fertilizer increases as the soil test for phosphorus drops from the medium range into the low range. Extension Crops Economist NDSU Extension Service A knowledge of the basis for durum, as for other crops, is important for effective marketing. It can enable a farmer to make more profitable cash sales and to make better use of other marketing tools. The basis can also be used along with the futures market to make farm- level price projections.
Basis is the relationship between the local cash price and a futures contract price for a commodity.
It is calculated as the cash price minus the futures price. In North Dakota, the basis is usually negative for durum and most other commodities, so it is described as being a number of cents under a particular futures contract price. If it is positive, it is described as being over the futures contract price. The nearby basis is derived by subtracting the nearby futures contract price from corresponding local cash prices. For this calculation, prices from the nearby futures contract month are used until the last Thursday in the month before the futures contract month.