By Russ Quinn
DTN Staff Reporter
OMAHA (DTN) -- Retail fertilizer prices made very minor moves in the fourth week of July, according to prices tracked by DTN, with none of the prices changing by more than $3 per ton.
Three fertilizers were lower compared to the previous month with none down a significant amount, which DTN considers 5% or more. MAP had an average price of $531/ton, down less than $1; 10-34-0 $485/ton, down $2; and anhydrous $582/ton, also down $2.
Five fertilizers were slightly higher compared to last month, but again, the move higher was fairly small. DAP had an average price of $495/ton, up less than $1; potash $394/ton, up $2; urea $430/ton, up $1; UAN28 $272/ton, up $3; and UAN32 $320/ton, up $2.
On a price per pound of nitrogen basis, the average urea price was at $0.47/lb.N, anhydrous $0.36/lb.N, UAN28 $0.49/lb.N and UAN32 $0.50/lb.N.
DTN recently ran this poll question asking about fertilizer purchases: "Some farmers will lock in their fertilizer needs in mid-summer, for either next fall and/or the following spring. What best describes your fertilizer purchasing plan this summer?"
An overwhelming 62% of the 241 total responses chose the answer "Not going to purchase fertilizer anytime soon."
The next most popular answer, "Going to purchase fertilizer in a couple of months," received 19% of the vote, followed by "Going to purchase fertilizer in the next month" at 12%.
Only 5% answered "Already purchased all of my fertilizer needs," and 2% said "Already purchased some of my fertilizer needs."
While the answers aren't surprising given the current level of retail fertilizer prices, I was a little surprised so few (2%) responded with the option of already purchased some of my fertilizer needs.
This could be because of the fact crop margins are still tight and producers don't want to spend money on next year's crop when they aren't done spending money on this year's crops. Or maybe it's because farmers believe fertilizer prices will decline some before the next crop.
Maybe it is a little bit of both. Regardless, it will be interesting to see if producers begin to lock in some of their fertilizer in the coming weeks and/or months.
All eight of the major fertilizers are now higher compared to last year with prices shifting higher. DAP is 2% higher, MAP is 5% more expensive, 10-34-0 is 10% higher, potash is 11% more expensive, UAN28 is 12% higher, UAN32 is 15% more expensive, anhydrous is 16% higher and urea is 18% more expensive 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 |
Jul 23-27 2018 | 486 | 504 | 356 | 366 |
Aug 20-24 2018 | 487 | 514 | 356 | 364 |
Sep 17-21 2018 | 494 | 520 | 362 | 384 |
Oct 15-19 2018 | 498 | 518 | 365 | 405 |
Nov 12-16 2018 | 500 | 530 | 368 | 407 |
Dec 10-14 2018 | 505 | 533 | 375 | 407 |
Jan 7-11 2019 | 508 | 533 | 381 | 407 |
Feb 4-8 2019 | 511 | 536 | 385 | 408 |
Mar 4-8 2019 | 510 | 534 | 386 | 403 |
Apr 1-5 2019 | 509 | 533 | 386 | 405 |
Apr 29-May 3 2019 | 498 | 528 | 390 | 413 |
May 27-31 2019 | 497 | 527 | 392 | 430 |
Jun 24-28, 2019 | 495 | 531 | 392 | 429 |
Jul 22-26 2019 | 495 | 531 | 394 | 430 |
LIQUID |
Date Range | 10-34-0 | ANHYD | UAN28 | UAN32 |
Jul 23-27 2018 | 442 | 501 | 243 | 279 |
Aug 20-24 2018 | 446 | 481 | 233 | 271 |
Sep 17-21 2018 | 448 | 494 | 239 | 278 |
Oct 15-19 2018 | 457 | 494 | 243 | 283 |
Nov 12-16 2018 | 457 | 519 | 245 | 287 |
Dec 10-14 2018 | 455 | 552 | 261 | 302 |
Jan 7-11 2019 | 461 | 573 | 267 | 304 |
Feb 4-8 2019 | 470 | 596 | 271 | 318 |
Mar 4-8 2019 | 470 | 596 | 270 | 317 |
Apr 1-5 2019 | 474 | 599 | 272 | 319 |
Apr 29-May 3 2019 | 487 | 595 | 268 | 315 |
May 27-31 2019 | 487 | 590 | 270 | 314 |
Jun 24-28, 2019 | 487 | 584 | 269 | 318 |
Jul 22-26 2019 | 485 | 582 | 272 | 320 |
Russ Quinn can be reached at russ.quinn@dtn.com
Follow him on Twitter @RussQuinnDTN
(KD/AG)
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