Fertilizer
The March CME/Purdue Ag Economy Barometer posted the weakest farmer sentiment reading since May 2020, as the survey found the biggest concern among producers continues to be “higher input costs.”
As farmers prepare for planting, supply chain concerns are rampant. Input availability issues could be a factor farmers battle all spring with a recent ag retail survey finding chemistry is in the shortest supply.
Livestock farmers, including those who previously paid to have animal waste removed, have found a fertile side business selling to grain farmers. Equipment firms that make manure spreading equipment are also benefiting.
A growing number of lawmakers, farm groups and farmers are pleading for assistance from still surging fertilizer prices. One possibility for USDA would be to tap the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) Charter Act.
A labor dispute that shut down operations at Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd on Sunday is set to aggravate a shortage of commodities, and a prolonged lockdown could hurt farmers ahead of the spring planting season.
Even with Russia removed from the global fertilizer market, it still doesn’t create worst-case scenario. StoneX Group says China could make the situation worse, as China and Russia account for 40% of global phosphate.
The U.S. is the second or third top importer for each of the three major components of fertilizer. Top producers of the major components of fertilizer include China, Russia, Canada, Morocco and Belarus.
The U.S. is “no where near” having 100% of the fertilizer products farmers need at planting, according to The Fertilizer Institute. Soil sampling and good nutrient stewardship principles are more important than ever.
When farmers use less fertilizer crops grow less food. That’s an iron law of agronomics. Now it combines with an iron law of economics: When farmers grow less food, the cost of feeding families spirals out of control.
Roughly 3,000 Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. (CP Rail) workers voted 96.7% in favor of going on strike starting March 16 if a collective bargaining agreement is not penned. CP Rail halts would mean trouble for fertilizer.