DTN Retail Fertilizer Trends

OMAHA (DTN) -- Retail fertilizer prices continue to skyrocket higher, according to locations tracked by DTN for the third week of November 2021. As has been the case for months now, all eight of the major fertilizers were higher.

Seven of the eight fertilizers recorded a considerable move higher compared to last month. DTN designates a significant move as anything 5% or more.

Leading the way higher was UAN32, which was up a whopping 32% from a month prior. The liquid nitrogen fertilizer's average price was at $651/ton, which continues to be an all-time high in the DTN data set.

Anhydrous was 30% more expensive compared to last month with the average price at $1,220/ton; this is also an all-time high. UAN28 was 27% higher, looking back a month with the average price of $571/ton, also an all-time high.

Urea was 17% more expensive compared to last month with an average price of $859/ton, again an all-time high with DTN data. 10-34-0 was 12% more expense looking back to last month with an average price of $739/ton.

A couple fertilizers were "only" single digits higher. Potash was 8% high compared to last month and had an average price of $769/ton. MAP was up 6% from last month and had an average price of $911/ton.

One fertilizer, DAP, had just a slight price increase. The phosphorus fertilizer had average price of $825/ton.

On a price per pound of nitrogen basis, the average urea price was at $0.93/lb.N, anhydrous $0.74/lb.N, UAN28 $1.02/lb.N and UAN32 $1.02/lb.N.

With high fertilizer prices, corn producers could be thinking about what practices they could employ with their fertilizer plan to become even more efficient. In a post to the Minnesota Crop News blog titled "High Nitrogen Fertilizer Costs: What Should Corn Growers be Thinking About?", authors Brad Carlson and Fabian Fernandez explore the topic (https://blog-crop-news.extension.umn.edu/…).

The pair made a Top 5 list of taking nitrogen fertilizer into consideration for the 2022 growing season.

The first suggestion was for Minnesota corn producers to make sure they are complying with the state's nitrogen fertilizer rule. There are areas of the state in which nitrogen can only be applied in the spring.

Another recommendation was a lower nitrogen rate makes sense at the current price ratio. The current ratio (the cost of N fertilizer to the price of corn) is 0.16, with a long-term average of 0.10 price ratio.

"Our current N rate tables show an average recommendation of 165 lbs. N/acre for corn-following-corn and 130 lbs. N/acre for corn-following-soybeans at the 0.10 price ratio," they wrote. "At the 0.15 ratio, the recommended N rate drops to 150 lbs. N/acre for corn-following-corn and 115 lbs. N/acre for corn-following soybeans."

A couple suggestions were related to the dry conditions Minnesota saw this growing season. One was to test for residual N to see if you can take an N credit and the other one was to take the dry 2021 growing season into consideration.

The last recommendation from University of Minnesota Extension was that 2022 could be a good year for applying N in-season. This practice gives farmers more time to make more informed fertilizer decisions, the article said.

Retail fertilizer prices compared to a year ago show all have increased significantly, with several fertilizers having well-over 100% price increases.

10-34-0 is now 62% more expensive, DAP is 81% higher, MAP is 86% more expensive, potash is 129% higher, urea is 140% more expensive, UAN32 is 161% higher, UAN28 176% is more expensive and anhydrous is 188% higher compared to last year.

DTN surveys more than 300 retailers, gathering roughly 1,700 fertilizer price bids, to compile the DTN Fertilizer Index each week. In addition to national averages, MyDTN subscribers can access the full DTN Fertilizer Index, which includes state averages, here: https://www.mydtn.com/….

Retail fertilizer prices continue to climb higher, led higher by four fertilizers at all-time high prices. You can read it here: https://www.dtnpf.com/….

DRY
Date Range	DAP	MAP	POTASH	UREA
Nov 16-20 2020	455	488	336	358
Dec 14-18 2020	466	522	360	361
Jan 11-15 2021	486	551	373	373
Feb 8-12 2021	588	642	398	453
Mar 8-12 2021	615	690	423	483
Apr 5-9 2021	618	699	431	504
May 3-7 2021	634	705	436	514
May 31-Jun 4 2021	652	712	443	524
Jun 28-Jul 2 2021	677	721	476	542
Jul 26-30 2021	695	753	549	554
Aug 23-27 2021	697	756	569	557
Sep 20-24 2021	709	786	625	585
Oct 18-22 2021	810	863	716	735
Nov 15-19 2021	825	911	769	859
Liquid
Date Range	10-34-0	ANHYD	UAN28	UAN32
Nov 16-20 2020	455	422	207	249
Dec 14-18 2020	463	450	210	253
Jan 11-15 2021	469	474	210	247
Feb 8-12 2021	512	524	243	285
Mar 8-12 2021	581	625	306	344
Apr 5-9 2021	605	692	341	378
May 3-7 2021	618	712	358	398
May 31-Jun 4 2021	619	719	363	412
Jun 28-Jul 2 2021	625	730	366	421
Jul 26-30 2021	631	737	365	419
Aug 23-27 2021	632	748	370	420
Sep 20-24 2021	633	772	383	436
Oct 18-22 2021	659	940	451	492
Nov 15-19 2021	739	1220	571	651

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

Follow him on Twitter @RussQuinnDTN

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