May 14 2008 10:19PM KXMCTV Minot

Spring planting across much of North Central North Dakota is on hold for a little while as farmers wait for the ground to dry down enough to head back out into the field.

About three-quarters of the crop is in the ground so far and farmers but it's all come at quite a cost. Fertilizer prices have doubled from last fall and are now at a record high for nitrogen.

(John Rensvold, Dakota Agronomy Partners) "It can't go high enough. It just won't quit going up. A lot of that because it's a commodity and it's driven by a free market system."

Dakota Agronomy crop nutritionist John Rensvold says the price for anhydrous ammonia now sits at 1,050 dollars a ton an unimaginable amount just a year ago.

(John Rensvold, Dakota Agronomy Partners) "We usually do a winter prepay special and the price from what that was to today has more than doubled."

Rensvold says another battle suppliers are facing is just getting product from manufacturers. He says demand at home and abroad are at an all time high and the supply chain just keeps getting tighter.

(John Rensvold, Dakota Agronomy Partners) "We have really struggled this spring to try and find enough tons to cover demand. We've had to deal with every vendor that I've ever known to try and beg, barrow, and steal another ton of fertilizer."

The hard truth that farmers are facing is that they are forced to foot the bill for nutrient enrichment because without fertilizer their crop production would diminish greatly.

Some in the industry are even calling on congress to investigate the record prices.

For now producers hopes are that rain will fall at the right time, the sun will shine and commodity prices are high enough at sale time to off-set the steep cost of production.

With your eye On Agriculture, Shaun Sipma KX News