Relief from higher fertilizer prices may soon be on the way.
David Asbridge, President of NPK Fertilizer Advisory Service in Chesterfield, Missouri said fertilizer prices are starting to moderate from earlier in the year when heavy demand from American corn growers was a factor in pushing values higher.
International nitrogen and phosphate prices have begun to soften, Ashbridge said, adding those lower prices should trickle into North American as winter progresses. Ultimately, he said he is not expecting any increases over the winter months ahead of the spring planting season.
That’s good news for producers, with Doug Chorney, president of the Manitoba Keystone Agricultural Producers Association, noting the price of some nitrogen fertilizers jumped by as much as 50% in the province to around C$950/tonne over the past 12 months alone.
“Fertilizer prices have really stayed high all through the season," he said, adding that some Manitoba producers have put off fertilizer applications this fall because of the high prices.
In Alberta, Humphrey Banack, President of Alberta’s Wild Rose Agricultural Producers Association, said fertilizer costs were up between 30% and 40% this spring.
Despite the current higher prices, Arlynn Kurtz, Vice-President of the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan, said he expects producers in that province to simply bite the bullet now and avoid the potential of even higher prices in spring.
In Ontario, Ridgetown College’s Farm Input Monitoring Project – an Oct. 5 survey of farm supply stores to collect cash retail prices that commercial farmers pay – found that fertilizer prices were up 4% from the previous survey taken in early June.
David Asbridge, President of NPK Fertilizer Advisory Service in Chesterfield, Missouri said fertilizer prices are starting to moderate from earlier in the year when heavy demand from American corn growers was a factor in pushing values higher.
International nitrogen and phosphate prices have begun to soften, Ashbridge said, adding those lower prices should trickle into North American as winter progresses. Ultimately, he said he is not expecting any increases over the winter months ahead of the spring planting season.
That’s good news for producers, with Doug Chorney, president of the Manitoba Keystone Agricultural Producers Association, noting the price of some nitrogen fertilizers jumped by as much as 50% in the province to around C$950/tonne over the past 12 months alone.
“Fertilizer prices have really stayed high all through the season," he said, adding that some Manitoba producers have put off fertilizer applications this fall because of the high prices.
In Alberta, Humphrey Banack, President of Alberta’s Wild Rose Agricultural Producers Association, said fertilizer costs were up between 30% and 40% this spring.
Despite the current higher prices, Arlynn Kurtz, Vice-President of the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan, said he expects producers in that province to simply bite the bullet now and avoid the potential of even higher prices in spring.
In Ontario, Ridgetown College’s Farm Input Monitoring Project – an Oct. 5 survey of farm supply stores to collect cash retail prices that commercial farmers pay – found that fertilizer prices were up 4% from the previous survey taken in early June.