DTN Retail Fertilizer Trends

By Cheryl Anderson
DTN Staff Reporter

OMAHA (DTN) -- Average retail fertilizer prices continued to fall the second week of December 2015, although not to any great extent, according to retailers tracked by DTN.

Seven of the eight major fertilizers edged lower compared to a month earlier but only by small, insignificant amounts of 2% or less. DAP averaged $534/ton, MAP $555/ton, potash $417/ton, urea $397/ton, 10-34-0 $575/ton, anhydrous $625/ton, UAN28 $284/ton and UAN32 $330/ton.

On a price per pound of nitrogen basis, all fertilizer prices remained unchanged since last week. The average urea price was at $0.43/lb.N, anhydrous $0.38/lb.N, UAN28 $0.51/lb.N and UAN32 $0.52/lb.N.

Karl Hensley, vice president in charge of agronomy for Central Valley Ag in Nebraska, Iowa and Kansas, said that fall application in the York, Nebraska, area was about 70% of what is normally applied.

Besides a late harvest that pushed some application back, wet weather also delayed fall application.

"We had weather events about every four to seven days that kept us out of the fields," he said.

Also, some pushback occurred from farmers who were waiting for fertilizer prices to reset, Hensley said.

"Farmers were convinced that prices would drop, so they weren't too excited about buying this fall," he said.

Hensley said that he has had a fairly steady number of farmers who are wanting to pre-order fertilizer before the end of the year for tax purposes. He added pre-ordering is about the normal amount of what he sees every year.

As for retail prices through winter and into spring, Hensley said he believes the market will see a slight uptrend.

"The experts are telling us we are probably at the low right now on most products," he said. "They tell us we will see a gradual increase into spring. Not anything major, but a gradual incline over current prices."

With retail fertilizer moving lower in recent months, only one fertilizer is now higher compared to a year earlier. 10-34-0 is about 1% higher than last year.

The remaining seven nutrients are now lower compared to retail prices from a year ago. Urea is almost 18% lower, potash is 13% lower, UAN28 and anhydrous are both 12% lower and UAN32 is 10% lower. Both DAP and MAP are now 6% lower than a year ago.

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 November 2008 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.

DTN's average of retail fertilizer prices from a month earlier ($ per ton):

Cheryl Anderson can be reached at Cheryl.anderson@dtn.com

(MZT/AG)

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