DTN Retail Fertilizer Trends

OMAHA (DTN) -- Retail fertilizer prices continue to move lower, according to prices tracked by DTN for the second week of January 2020.

For the third-straight week, seven of the eight major fertilizers had lower prices compared to a month earlier. Only urea was down a notable amount, down 5% compared to last month and had an average price of $357/ton.

Six other fertilizers once again had a slight price decline from the previous month. DAP had an average price of $433/ton, MAP $444/ton, potash $375/ton, anhydrous $487/ton, UAN28 $237/ton and UAN32 $275/ton.

The remaining fertilizer, 10-34-0, had a slight price increase, looking back to last month. The starter fertilizer had an average price of $470/ton.

On a price per pound of nitrogen basis, the average urea price was at $0.39/lb.N, anhydrous $0.30/lb.N, UAN28 $0.42/lb.N and UAN32 $0.43/lb.N.

A couple of weeks ago we looked at fertilizer price estimates in the 2020 and 2019 Purdue University crop budgets, and the differences between the two years. Today, we will look at crop budgets from North Dakota State University (NDSU) Extension, which came out in December 2019.

The NDSU crop budgets are arranged by nine different regions across the state and for a variety of crops. Since we are using corn, we will focus on four areas -- Northeast, North (Red River) Valley, South (Red River) Valley and Southeast.

The 2020 Northeast crop budget for corn has fertilizer estimated at $81.29 per acre (ac). The 2019 Northeast crop budget had fertilizer at $98.70/ac, a difference of $17.41/ac.

The 2020 North Valley crop budget for corn had fertilizer cost at $81.64/ac. The 2019 North Valley crop budget had fertilizer at $96.51/ac, a difference of $14.87/ac.

The 2020 South Valley crop budget for corn had a fertilizer cost estimate at $97.83/ac. The 2019 South Valley crop budget had fertilizer at $110.11/ac, a difference of $12.28/ac.

The 2020 Southeast crop budget for corn had a fertilizer estimate at $95.82/ac. The 2019 Southeast crop budget had fertilizer at $105.99/ac, a difference of $10.17/ac.

If you average the four region's fertilizer price difference you get $13.80/ac. This represents a considerable savings for corn growers in these four areas of North Dakota with retail fertilizer prices lower for the 2020 growing season compared to 2019.

To see both NDSU Extension crop and livestock budgets, click the following link: https://www.ag.ndsu.edu/…

Retail fertilizers are mixed in price from a year ago. MAP is 17% lower, both DAP and anhydrous are 16% less expensive, both urea and UAN28 are 12% lower, UAN32 is 10% less expensive and potash is 2% less expensive from last year at this time. In addition, 10-34-0 is 2% 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.

DRY
Date Range	DAP	MAP	POTASH	UREA
Jan 14-18 2019	512	534	383	407
Feb 11-15 2019	512	537	385	405
Mar 11-15 2019	510	534	386	402
Apr 8-12 2019	505	532	387	404
May 6-10 2019	501	527	391	418
Jun 3-7 2019	497	527	392	434
Jul 1-5, 2019	498	532	392	432
Jul 29-Aug 2 2019	494	530	393	428
Aug 26-30 2019	491	494	387	412
Sep 23-27, 2019	479	475	384	404
Oct 21-25, 2019	465	473	383	404
Nov 18-22 2019	456	466	381	387
Dec 16-20 2019	444	460	378	377
Jan 13-17 2020	433	444	375	357
LIQUID
Date Range	10-34-0	ANHYD	UAN28	UAN32
Jan 14-18 2019	462	580	270	305
Feb 11-15 2019	470	596	271	318
Mar 11-15 2019	469	596	269	318
Apr 8-12 2019	481	592	271	317
May 6-10 2019	487	595	267	310
Jun 3-7 2019	487	591	271	314
Jul 1-5, 2019	482	584	276	317
Jul 29-Aug 2 2019	486	580	272	320
Aug 26-30 2019	470	528	256	290
Sep 23-27, 2019	471	511	254	289
Oct 21-25, 2019	471	507	251	291
Nov 18-22 2019	472	496	245	284
Dec 16-20 2019	469	487	239	276
Jan 13-17 2020	470	487	237	275

Russ Quinn can be reached at russ.quinn@dtn.com

Follow him on Twitter @RussQuinnDTN

(SK/BAS)

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