Fertilzer Costs Continue to Rise

More bad news on the inputs front from Ohio State (see below), fertilizer prices continue to surge.

Wednesday afternoon, CNBC's Fast Money program interviewed Mike Wilson, CEO of Agrium. Mr.Wilson Stated that demand is not falling off, supply will not meet demand for 3-5 years, they are in effect sold out, their inventory is so low they can't produce enough.

Might be time to really think about your fertilization program for next fall. You certainly don't want to short your yield with the price of corn, but does it really make sense to keep putting on high levels of expensive fertilizer (P-K)?

When was the last time you applied lime? When was the last time you soil sampled? Might be worth a couple of dollars an acre in lab costs to find out what you need and what you don't. When is the last time you applied micros like sulfur, boron, or copper?

Now is the time to start planning that fall fertilization. Lime prices are relatively unchanged and is a bargain compared to potash. It will also make any fertilizer you apply work better!

Call us, or one of our dealers, they can help you reduce your fertilizer costs, and still maintain yields, maybe even increase it!

From Ohio State:

Fertilizer Prices Continue Higher - Barry Ward, Brian Freytag

Retail fertilizer prices in Ohio continue to surge as a combination of strong world demand, supply shortages, supply disruptions, high energy/transportation costs and a weak U.S. dollar make for a bad combination for farmers looking to make purchases.

Retail fertilizer price surveys show anhydrous ammonia prices to be 16% higher than they were in mid-March. Anhydrous Ammonia prices averaged $910 per ton on July 2nd compared to $782 per ton on March 26th. Retail UAN (28%) averaged $425/ton on July 2nd while UAN (28%) shipped direct to farm storage averaged $402/ton. Urea prices are significantly higher (36%), averaging $705/ton on July 2nd compared to $520/ton on March 26th.

Phosphorous fertilizers prices continue to hit new records as MAP and DAP both are averaging over $1000 per ton. As of July 2nd our survey showed MAP averaging $1092/ton and DAP averaging $1195/ton. This compares to the March 26th spot prices of $914/ton for MAP and $917/ton for DAP.

Potash is also experiencing big run-ups in price as the average price on July 2nd was $686/ton. This is a 24% increase over the March 26th price of $557/ton.

Prices as of 6/17/08
Cost per lb. of actual N:
Anhydrous Ammonia: $910/ton = $0.555/lb. of N
UAN (28%): $425/ton = $0.759/lb. of N
UAN (28%) Direct: $402/ton = $0.718/lb. of N
Urea: $705/ton = $0.766/lb. of N

Cost per lb. of actual P2O5 (value of N not considered for this illustration):
MAP (11-52-0): $1092/ton = $1.05/lb. of P2O5
DAP (18-46-0): $1195/ton = $1.15/lb. of P2O5

Cost per lb. of actual K2O:
Potash (0-0-60): $686/ton = $0.572/lb. of K2O