50% Surge in Fertilizer Prices Adds $128,000 in On-Farm Costs for 2022, Finds Texas A&M Study

As the nation struggles to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of supply chain disruptions continue to wreak havoc on agricultural input markets, both in terms of availability [!!] and cost of inputs. In the case of fertilizer, prices have exploded over the past year

As farmers furiously try to price and source fertilizer ahead of the spring rush, a new report from the Texas A&M Agricultural and Food Policy Center (AFPC) shows supply chain disruptions are wreaking havoc on nitrogen, potassium and phosphorous prices, costing feedgrain farms the most.

#Fertilizer #FoodPrices

https://www.agweb.com/news/crops/corn/50-surge-fertilizer-prices-adds-128000-farm-costs-2022-finds-texas-am-study

Farming Insider Warns The Coming Food Shortages Are Going To Be Far Worse Than We're Being Told

As I’ve been warning, I’m hearing these same things from farmers: prices for inputs have exploded IF they are available at all! A controlled demolition of our food supply is ongoing.

#FoodShortage #fertilizer #SupplyChain

https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/farming-insider-warns-coming-food-shortages-are-going-be-far-worse-were-being-told

Massive fire rips through North Carolina fertilizer plant, thousands asked to evacuate over explosion fears

This is not a coincidence -- this is the war on food production. We are already low on #fertilizer.

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North Carolina officials are asking thousands living within a one-mile radius of a raging fire at a fertilizer plant in the city of Winston-Salem to evacuate Tuesday amid fears of a large explosion.

The fire started Monday night at Weaver Fertilizer Plant on North Cherry Street, and the City of Winston-Salem officials have confirmed small explosions at the plant.

Winston-Salem firefighters fought the blaze for about two hours before the fire "began affecting a rail car" and at that point "became an explosive hazard," prompting concerns of an explosion of ammonium nitrate, Battalion Chief Patrick Grubbs, a 15-year veteran of the Winston-Salem Fire Department, said in the latest on-camera update provided to reporters at the scene at about 4:30 a.m. Tuesday.

Mayo said Monday evening that fire crews "abandoned" the fire-fighting operation because of the large volume of ammonium nitrate on site.

#Fire

https://www.rt.com/news/547950-fertilizer-plant-fire-north-carolina/

Russia stops the export of ammonium nitrate

With world fertilizer supply running short, nations are taking steps to hold on to whatever they can to ensure their domestic food production will be unaffected this season.

(Meanwhile fert factories in the US are being burned down...)
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“From February 2, a two-month ban on the export of ammonium nitrate comes into force. The corresponding government decree has been signed,” its statement told.

“This is a temporary measure, the remaining volume can be exported from April 2, when Russian enterprises will receive ammonium nitrate in the required volume, and the demand for it in the domestic market will peak,” said First Deputy Prime Minister Andrey Belousov.

#fertilizer

https://www.fertilizerdaily.com/20220202-russia-stops-the-export-of-ammonium-nitrate/

#WarOnFarms #Fertilizer

Really not good: further degradation of #fertilizer supply chain:

Lithuanian Railways has already received an official notification from Belarus that oil products belonging to Poland’s ORLEN Lietuva and fertilizers from Lithuanian company Achema will no longer be able to be transported through Belarus to consumers in Ukraine.

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Belarus since Monday, in response to the blocking of the transit of potash fertiliser through the Baltic port of Klaipėda, has blocked trains with Lithuanian petroleum products and fertilizers, especially those going to Ukraine. For several days now, economists and policymakers in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius have been counting possible economic losses due to their transit war with Belarus. The current crisis in the relations between Minsk and Vilnius was instigated by Lithuania’s ruling coalition, particularly Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė and Foreign Minister Gabriel Landsbergis.

#Fertilizer #Ukraine #Belarus

https://southfront.org/lithuania-goes-from-bad-to-worse-as-belarus-closes-vital-economic-railway-artery/

Another fire at a fertilizer plant, Yakima, WA, USA destroys 1.75 million pounds of mixed components for fertilizers - how many fertilizer facitilies have burned down just this year now? (As fertilizer shipments from Russia stop?)

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Fire rages at fertilizer facility, forces evacuations in Sunnyside

Although a chemical fire in Sunnyside quickly consumed an industrial building and emitted sulfur-laden smoke throughout the afternoon and evening, Monday’s blaze was caught early enough to avoid injuries and could have been much worse, officials said.

A smoldering pile of sulfur quickly became a raging chemical fire just after 1 p.m. Monday at Nutrien Ag Solutions, 1101 Midvale Road, Sunnyside Fire Chief Ken Anderson said.

The fire destroyed one storage building on the southeast corner of the fertilizer storage facility in the Port of Sunnyside and damaged others, but adjacent Nutrien buildings and storage tanks containing hazardous chemicals were spared, Anderson said Monday evening.

The storage building contained 1.75 million pounds of mixed components for fertilizers, but there were more dangerous chemicals in adjacent buildings and tanks, and firefighters prevented the blaze from spreading to them, Anderson added.

“It was caught early on — it could have been much worse,” he added.

#Fertilizer #Fire

https://www.yakimaherald.com/news/local/no-one-hurt-as-fire-rages-at-fertilizer-facility-forces-evacuations-in-sunnyside/article_7ba76165-fa09-5277-a7e7-a39fed1aa43e.html

Fertilizer prices spike 43% to fresh record high as supplies tighten. Rising costs of farm inputs will continue to send food prices soaring.

#fertilizer #FoodPrices

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-03-28/fertilizer-price-surges-43-to-fresh-record-as-supplies-tighten

China unveils limits on phosphate (fertilizer) exports:

“The quotas, set well below year-ago export levels, would expand China’s intervention in the market to keep a lid on domestic prices and protect food security while global fertiliser prices are hovering near record highs.”

#fertilizer #China

https://www.reuters.com/article/china-fertilizers-quotas-idUKL4N2YH2CP

It is noteworthy that Trudeau moves on the fertilizer reduction policy even as Dutch farmers are in the news worldwide protesting THAT VERY POLICY.

They WANT the reaction…

“Canada will be a third world country within a year…”

#fertilizer #canada

Polish fertilizer plant shuts down due to natural gas prices. There won’t be fertilizer available for many farmers next year…the controlled demolition of our food supply continues apace!

#AbsoluteZero #EnergyCrisis #fertilizer #poland

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-08-23/azoty-of-poland-halts-fertilizer-production-on-record-gas-prices

Majority of fertilizer plants remain offline in Europe — and no sign of relief for gas prices.

#EnergyCrisis #EU #Fertilizer

Among the industrial production shutting down across Europe: everything needed to grow food.

See this map for a sense of how widespread - and drastic - the shutdowns of fertilizer production.

What has been put in motion cannot now he stopped - Famine ahead. Prepare.

#eu #fertilizer

It is a global situation—not just Europe:
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UN Food Official Warns Fertilizer Affordability Crisis Could Slash Global Grain Production By 40%

Global fertilizer shortages threaten to starve a planet as prices are too high for some farmers ahead of the next planting season. 

That's the view of Maximo Torero, chief economist from the Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN), who told Bloomberg TV that elevated fertilizer prices could decrease global grain production by upwards of 40% in the next planting season. 

#fertilizer #FoodShortages

https://www.zerohedge.com/commodities/un-food-official-warns-fertilizer-affordability-crisis-could-slash-global-grain

Russia promises to provide FREE fertilizer and increased grain exports to “poor countries” — this has been under- [un-] reported in western media:
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Russia is set to ramp up grain exports, seeking to supply some 30 million tons this year, President Vladimir Putin has announced. The supplies will prioritize less well off and food-insecure nations.

“We believe it to be right to ramp up deliveries to the poorest countries,” Putin said during a meeting of the Security Council on Friday.

“In total, by the end of this year, we will supply some 30 million tons of grain and are ready to increase this volume to 50 million tons or more, because, thank God, we have a good harvest this year,” he added.

Moscow is also ready to supply fertilizers to the poorest nations free of charge, the Russian president said. “Our producers — we’re talking about potash fertilizers – are ready to deliver them free of charge to developing nations that urgently need them,” Putin said, instructing the Russian Foreign Ministry to work on the plan.

#russia #fertilizer

https://www.rt.com/russia/562508-putin-grain-poor-nations/

Hurricane Ian is poised to strike at the nation’s production of phosphate fertilizer, threatening supply as the cost of growing food in the US rises by the most ever.

“Florida is home to Mosaic Co.’s phosphate rock assets, where they mine product, and to facilities where they turn that rock into fertilizers like diammonium phosphate and monoammonium phosphate, commonly known as DAP and MAP.

“Mosaic’s New Wales plant is ‘right in the middle of the damage swath,’ said Chuck Watson, a disaster modeler with Enki Research. It could ‘be out for weeks,’ he said in an email.”

#WarOnFarms #Fertilizer

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/hurricane-ian-threatens-to-make-food-inflation-worse-as-path-aims-at-fertilizer-hub-1.1824415

Hurricane Ian's damage to Florida fertilizer plant creates 'concern' about rising food prices

Hurricane Ian forced Florida fertilizer maker Mosaic Co. to halt operations across Polk County for an unspecified amount of time as disaster relief efforts get underway.

The company’s North American phosphate operations make up "approximately 50 percent of North American farmers’ supply of granular phosphate fertilizer, and 12 percent of the global supply" in a given year.

#fertilizer

https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/hurricane-ian-damage-florida-fertilizer-plant-creates-concern-rising-food-prices

Force majeure declarations have begun due to barges stopped in Mississippi River due to low water levels

This affects not just the grains harvest, but fertilizer applications.

A logjam of ships, tugboats and barges due to low water levels on the Mississippi River is threatening to grind trade of grains, fertilizer and other goods to a halt, Bloomberg reports. Ingram Barge Company, the largest U.S. barge operator, declared force majeure in a letter to customers due to “near-historic” low water conditions on the Mississippi River. As of Wednesday afternoon, the Coast Guard said there was a queue of 122 vessels at Stack Island and 15 vessels at Memphis. Due to increased groundings, the number of vessels in tow is being restricted.

#fertilizer

https://www.agweb.com/markets/pro-farmer-analysis/low-water-levels-mississippi-river-threatens-shipments

Australia to Plant Less Wheat as Global Fertilizer Woes Deepen

... as the energy crisis becomes a food crisis ...

"Wheat farmers in Australia — one of the world’s biggest agricultural exporters — are paring back plantings as concerns over #fertilizer supplies mount, the latest sign of how the war in Iran is disrupting operations on farms around the world.

"Wheat is a nitrogen-intensive crop, with fertilizer use among the key factors for yields. With exports through the Strait of Hormuz largely stalled, crop nutrients worldwide are quickly becoming pricier and harder to find.

source: Bloomberg

"You will see a massive decline in yield and acres"

Rising costs and fertilizer shortages are already reshaping planting decisions for US farmers, says one record-holding farmer growing corn and soybeans, along with barley, oats, triticale, and wheat on 650-acres in Hickory, North Carolina.

“I think you will see a massive decline in both yield and acres,” he predicted. “Some farmers are abandoning leases, some are switching crops and others are just using fewer inputs. I think [February's] yield numbers are a pipe dream at this point with even tillage being reduced with fuel prices.

“This is really going to be an exciting year to see if the USDA takes these things into consideration in future report numbers or if they keep them inflated. [IAF: Expect the USDA to mostly keep yields inflated until post-harvest downward revisions—much like gov does with GDP & employment numbers]

For fertilizer, he said, the price impact “has been immediate and severe. For many growers, fertilizer represented 40% of operating costs in 2025 and price increases in this critical input directly affect planting decisions, long-term viability, and the livelihoods of farm families.”

#fertilizer #WarOnFarms

https://agfundernews.com/nc-farmer-weighs-in-as-persian-gulf-fertilizer-crisis-widens-you-will-see-a-massive-decline-in-yield-and-acres