If fall applications of anhydrous ammonia (NH3) are a go-to for your fertility program – or you expect them to be this year – consider calling your supplier asap to lock in product.
While application season is still some weeks away, waiting to buy NH3 could result in derailing your post-harvest nutrient game plan, according to Josh Linville, vice president of fertilizer for StoneX.
Logistically, in order for you to have product ready to go, he says, application season is already here.
“We are kind of at zero hour. We’ve got to start making decisions on what we are and are not going to do,” Linville told AgriTalk Host Chip Flory earlier this week.
While NH3 is not cheap – and no fertilizer is – it is well-priced relative to other nitrogen options including urea and UAN. Anhydrous ammonia is also readily available in the current pipeline.
For those reasons, Linville anticipates farmers who have the application equipment will put more anhydrous on their fields this fall. He says the potential downside to expected high demand could be a run on product, depleting availability in the marketplace and increasing costs.
“I do think the prices will hold to push higher,” he adds.
I’m sure I’ll stir trouble but so be it.
— Cattleman🪓 (@cattleguy92) September 19, 2025
A bailout or whatever you call it is NOT what is needed!
Yes most of us will also have to take it to stay viable, which they know!
That’s the problem. Anhydrous was 750/ton a week ago and it’s 950 today! Corn took a $.30 drop in the… https://t.co/ShjR2qv3GH
Tariffs Are Contributing To More Deals With Russia
For farmers who want to use UAN (Urea Ammonium Nitrate) for the 2026 crop, availability continues to be extremely tight.
Linville says the current situation is characterized by low starting inventories, potential import disruptions due to tariffs, and production challenges, all of which could make UAN availability continue to be a significant concern for farmers.
Veronica Nigh, senior economist for The Fertilizer Institute, says with the tariffs that have been imposed on various trade partners, the U.S. is purchasing more fertilizer – namely UAN and urea – from Russia.
“Because the U.S. does not have permanent, normal trade relations with Russia, at the moment, Russia is actually exempt from tariffs on fertilizer products coming into the U.S.,” Nigh explains in a recent podcast.
The amounts of UAN and urea coming in from Russia have increased significantly in the past year.
Nigh says the U.S. got 25% of its urea from Russia by the second quarter of 2024. By the same time in 2025, the Russian market share to the U.S. had grown to 51%.
Likewise, for UAN, Russia supplied 49% of the product to the U.S. by the second quarter of 2024. This year, the percentage coming into the U.S. from Russia reached 57% in the second quarter of 2025.
“Across all major macros, we’re seeing shifts also in exports as other countries are maybe changing who they want to do business with. Then, also, the shift in who is supplying the U.S. is becoming much more focused and concentrated on Russian supply away from those other supplying markets,” Nigh says.
Linville offers a blunter assessment, with regard to UAN supplies:
“I cannot say enough how tight UAN is this year, and it could be made worse if President Trump and our allies go forward with sanctions and duties and tariffs against Russia. That [would make] a very bad situation much, much worse,” he says.
Linville shares more details on his outlook for fertilizer availability and pricing on AgriTalk here:
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