In addition, supplies may be more limited than the past couple of seasons. The reason of course is the high price of natural gas.
Natural gas is used to produce most of the synthetic nitrogen that farmers use.
As a result, US nitrogen production has just about shut down and we will be depending on imports this season. Of course there are things that growers can do to conserve N, lower costs, and still keep the crop quality that their markets require. Before planting, growers need to take credit for N that may already be in their soils. Darryl Warncke, Soil Fertility Specialist with Michigan State University, offers these suggestions. A cereal crop like rye or wheat may recycle 20 to 40 pounds of N per acre while a legume crop may provide 40 to 80 pounds.