Ramsey County Ag Column

By Bill Hodous

February 4, 2008

Howdy!!!!

We are still trying to manage many different meetings that are around the corner with our first big meeting being Ramsey County Crop Improvement annual meeting.  I had sent our All Farmers Ag Alert our before Christmas and had a date of our annual meeting of February 7 not knowing at that point the dates of the state annual meeting and also our speakers commitment.  Well we finally received notice of the annual meeting to be that date and our speaker then needed to make his calendar work as well so not the date has been set at Tuesday, February 19, 10am Great American Inn.  Coffee and rolls to start at 9:30 am.  The annual meeting itself will begin at 1 pm and commodity elections to begin promptly at 1:30 pm.

Pesticide training is soon approaching for those of you with expire cards APRIL OF 2008.  You should have received notice last December of 2007 if your card is expiring.  If you have any questions or concerns about your card please feel free to call or stop by our office to check on your card expiration.

One of the big questions of the winter is “How much more can we charge for Cash Rent”.  I probably talk to land owners 3-5 a week about that very question.  We have in our office, a publication distributed by NASS (North Dakota Agricultural Statistic Service) referring to cash rents reported to them last year.  That is the only factual information I provide for anyone asking.  This report gives the low cash rent reported and also the high cash rent provided and also the most common rent reported.  These numbers might be adjusted by individual owners and tenants but are used for numbers of reference.  The common question this year is how well our area producers are going to do with these high commodity prices.  There are many factors to account for in this picture with the most common denominator being input costs.  Even with high commodity prices, input costs this year will be the highest ever paid per crop.  Fertilizer, chemicals, seed and fuel (to name a few) are soaring to new highs almost daily and depending what we are given for weather, could be the most stressful year ever for our area producers.  There are potentially great opportunities but a lot more “ifs” in the picture.  I guess what I am trying to say about land costs is to visit with your land owner or tenant, with a long term plan in place, that can hopefully be beneficial to the both of you.  I would also like you to be wary of those operators from far away as you are unlikely to be familiar with their farming practices.  “Local is always good”. 

Calendar!!!

                        February 19 (changed)Ramsey County Crop Improvement annual meeting
                        March     4                   Ramsey County Shooting Sports (Archery)
                        March    17                  Private Pesticide, Starkweather 9-am
                        March    26                  Private Pesticide, Devils Lake 9-am
                        March    26                  Private Pesticide, Devils Lake 6- pm

524 4th Ave #5, 2nd Floor Ramsey County Courthouse
Devils Lake  ND  58301
701-662-7027
email - ramsey@ndsuext.nodak.edu