VAN WERT — Dealing with the rising cost of fertilizer is one of the main topics at this year’s Farm Focus July 29 at the Marsh Foundation Home Farm in Van Wert. “We picked three of our hot topics,” said Gary Prill, Farm Focus program manager. “One of them definitely is input prices — fertilizer, seed and the rest.” Fertilizer is of particular interest. With the growth of the livestock industry in northwest Ohio and the drastic increase in commercial fertilizer prices, there is a great deal of interest in manure and how it can be applied to crops to reduce the need for buying fertilizers. “One of our other new things this year is manure application, which really ties right in to fertilizer application,” Prill said. “Manure isn’t a waste product, a byproduct anymore. It’s a commodity. “It used to be fairly stable, and you could pre-buy a little bit,” he said. “Now there’s uncertainty. It’s as volatile as the grain market anymore.