Farmers brace for spike in crop input costs

There's bad news for Indiana farmers: A Purdue University agricultural expert predicts it will cost farmers more to grow an acre of corn, soybeans or wheat next year.

Purdue Extension agricultural economist Alan Miller says preliminary budgets show variable costs for rotation corn increasing by 16 percent, soybeans by 15 percent and wheat by 12 percent when compared with last January.

Miller said the cost of renting farmland and fertilizer prices are the two biggest factors behind the higher costs.

Even with the higher input costs in 2012, Miller said farmers can begin to manage their profit margins now. One way is by pricing fertilizer for 2012. Fertilizer prices are lower this fall than they are expected to be next spring.