DTN Retail Fertilizer Trends

OMAHA (DTN) -- Retail fertilizer prices continue to push higher, although at a much slower clip than past weeks, according to locations tracked by DTN for the third week of March 2021. Only seven of the eight major fertilizers were up a significant amount, which DTN designates as 5% or more, breaking a streak of six weeks in a row all eight were higher.

The average retail price of UAN28 was up 35% from last month at $331/ton. UAN32 was 29% more expensive compared to the prior month with an average price of $373/ton.

Anhydrous prices were 27% higher compared to a month ago at an average of $671/ton. 10-34-0 was up 14% with an average price of $596/ton.

The remaining four fertilizers had slightly less sharp price spikes compared to the previous weeks. Urea was 9% more expensive looking back to last month with an average price of $496/ton.

MAP was 7% higher from last month and had average price of $693/ton. Potash was 5% higher compared to last month and had average price of $424/ton.

DAP prices increased by 3% from the prior month. The phosphorus fertilizer had an average price of $616/ton.

On a price per pound of nitrogen basis, the average urea price was at $0.54/lb.N, anhydrous $0.41/lb.N, UAN28 $0.59/lb.N and UAN32 $0.58/lb.N.

Higher retail fertilizer prices certainly have the attention of crop producers. University of Minnesota Extension Nutrient Management Specialist Dan Kaiser said he has talked to many growers this winter concerned about this issue.

In response, Kaiser wrote an article for the Minnesota Crop News titled, "With Rising Fertilizer Prices, How Can Farmers Reduce Costs This Spring?" In it, he shared some tips for producers.

The first thing he recommends would be to prioritize macronutrients over micronutrients. He said the simple fact is many farmers cannot afford to cut nutrient applications such as nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potash (K) and sulfur (S) for the sake of applying micronutrients because they likely will not have as high a return on investment.

"The $5 per acre you may spend on micronutrients would be better spent on nutrients which form the foundation of your nutrient management program," Kaiser wrote.

Another important consideration would be to pay attention to P and K soils tests. Farmers can cut cost by skipping application where P and K are not needed and only applying these nutrients where they're essential for crop development, he wrote.

A third recommendation would be to make sure you are accounting for all of the nutrients you are applying. Kaiser wrote some of the fertilizer products applied contain multiple nutrients, and thus, producers need to make sure to credit nutrients from all products.

An example of this would be nitrogen in MAP and DAP. There is no simple answer as to how best to credit nitrogen from fall applications of MAP and DAP, he wrote.

"The earlier they were applied in the fall, the more likely it is that the ammonium will convert to nitrate which may be lost before it can be taken up by the crop in the spring," he wrote.

He also said fertilizer enhancers and soil amendments can be risky investments and encouraged producers to stay up to date on the latest University of Minnesota Extension research (https://extension.umn.edu/…). The entire article can be viewed at https://blog-crop-news.extension.umn.edu/….

With retail fertilizer prices moving higher over recent months, all fertilizers are now higher in price from a year ago.

Potash is now 15% more expensive, 10-34-0 is 28% higher, urea is 30% more expensive, UAN32 34% higher, anhydrous is 37% more expensive, UAN28 is 41% higher, DAP is 51% more expensive and MAP 60% is higher compared to last year.

DTN collects roughly 1,700 retail fertilizer bids from 310 retailer locations weekly. Not all fertilizer prices change each week. Prices are subject to change at any time.

DTN Pro Grains subscribers can find current retail fertilizer price in the DTN Fertilizer Index on the Fertilizer page under Farm Business.

Retail fertilizer charts dating back to 2010 are available in the DTN fertilizer segment. The charts included cost of N/lb., DAP, MAP, potash, urea, 10-34-0, anhydrous, UAN28 and UAN32.

Russ Quinn can be reached at [email protected]

Follow him on Twitter @RussQuinnDTN

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