7,900 2.5 megawatt turbines is a lot of turbines. That is the size currently being put up around our farm. They are huge and I believe they cost about 2.5 million each. The 180 turbines cover an area that I would estimate to be well over 50 square miles.

At 2.5 million each the cost would be 19.75 billion. Having watched construction all last summer and even now of the Crystal Lake wind farm, 7,900 would be a major, major project. Construction of 43 more of this size wind farm boggles the mind.

Many farmers over apply nitrogen. A lot is lost in fall application in my opinion and early application in the spring can also disappear if there is a lot of rain. 170 pounds is way too much for a 154 bushel yield.

The rule of thumb is one pound of nitrogen per bushel of corn. But if crop rotation is practiced, and it usually is, soybeans add about 1 pound of nitrogen for each bushel of beans produced. On my farm that's about 50 pounds per acre. So I put on 125 pounds of nitrogen in the form of urea just before planting. The yield this fall was about 170 bushels of corn per acre. Urea was the only fertilizer I used because of high prices this year.

No doubt corn yields would drop dramatically without nitrogen application, but I doubt they would drop by half if crop rotation is used. Also spreading hog manure is a big deal around here as a source of nitrogen. I hate it because of the stench. But with so many hog factories nearby it is a significant source of nitrogen.

I had hopes some hog factories would shut down because of high corn prices, but few do. They seem to keep going and just absorb the losses.