Do your homework: Growers carefully assess needs when purchasing pricey inputs for 2026

Janelle Atyeo
Nov 7, 2025
Nov 7, 2025

Between the high costs of seed, fertilizer and herbicide and the meager prices their crops are bringing in, farmers are feeling the pinch this year.

Brandon Fast checks soybeans ahead of this fall’s harvest in Cottonwood County, Minn.
Submitted photo

Brandon Fast corn harvest in southwestern Minnesota was a success this year after a good growing season with adequate moisture. Fast operates a seed and chemical company and expects 2026 prices to be up due to inflation and global impacts.
Submitted photo

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Chemical costs 3.JPG — York County, Nebraska corn grower Jason Lewis, center, poses with his harvest crew. Growers he talked to are for the first time needing to cut back on their input plans for 2026. Pictured is father-in-law Curt Friesen, left, wife Kori, Jason Lewis, and friend Jeff Wong with the Lewis’s kids Ryker and Kayleigh.
Submitted photo

Raised in small town South Dakota, Janelle is enjoying her time as editor of Tri-State Neighbor and Midwest Messenger while raising kids, chickens and no till vegetables in central Sioux Falls. Reach her at janelle.atyeo@lee.net.