Fertilizer Prices
This week I set in a meeting with Scott Stiles one of our Extension Economist. If you are a row crop farmer the future looks good. Soybeans will be on the move up and he talked about the potential for $12 soybeans or even more. Corn is on the move also, which isn't always a good thing for cattle producers and feed costs. Another problem with corn moving higher is fertilizer prices tend to follow corn prices. DAP has already started up and we may see higher urea and potash prices soon. If you are going to grow grain, hay or pasture next year, this may be a good time to look at booking fertilizer before it goes much higher. I would highly suggest talking to your fertilizer dealer soon.
The following statement is from Scott Stiles:
"DAP had started its run-up a while back. Ground zero for COVID-19 was Wuhan China. That province is the largest phosphate producing area in China. Everything shut down there for a while and disrupted phosphate movement. Also, it looks like the cheap DAP and MAP imports from Russia into the U.S. will be shut down when the new import tariffs are tacked on in the coming months.
Urea and potash started moving higher this fall when the corn and soybean markets really caught their momentum. The trend up in these two fertilizer should continue into the spring--usually does anyway. I heard this morning there's probably another $20/ton of upside in potash between now and next May. Urea should hold firm but follow the direction of the corn market. The big acreage winner next spring will be soybeans. Potash prices had been beat down pretty hard for the last 2 years. Bean prices and beans picking up 6-7 million acres in the U.S. next spring has turned potash around."
