EASTERN ONTARIO: Fertilizer price shock: Up as much as 60 % over last year, could go higher

NORTH AUGUSTA — If you haven’t already locked in your fertilizers and crop inputs, you could be in for a shock.

Fertilizer prices have already climbed as much as 60 per cent, said V6 Agronomy’s Ryan Brophy. Prices are the highest since 2008, he said.
More than a few growers have already gotten sticker shock reaching out to their local retailer in early February, he said.

Crop input prices tend to chase crop prices and with commodity prices shooting steadily up input prices have come along right with them. Maybe 50 per cent of the growers Brophy works with booked their inputs in advance.

“Those growers made out very well this year.” But many growers, particularly on smaller operations, tend to leave it until the spring. Eastern Ontario has “incredible retail support,” Brophy said, so spring availability hasn’t historically been an issue.

But it could be this year. Canada doesn’t produce phosphates anymore, Brophy said, so all of our supplies are imported. With a global pandemic still complicating shipping arrangements, there could be supply issues in Eastern Ontario, he said.

He recommended producers who haven’t booked their crop inputs do as soon as possible, and going forward he recommended producers book nutrients at the same time as seed.

“The seasonality of this industry is incredibly predictable,” and fall is always the best time to book crop inputs.

He also advised growers getting sticker-shocked by prices not to drop fertilizers from their planting plans entirely.

“We’ve been having a lot of discussion around fertilizer placing,” he said. If you broadcast fertilizer, consider a more targeted approach. After all, producers hoping to cash in on high commodity prices will need a crop to sell come harvest time, he said.