Fretting Focused On Fertilizer
Fertilizer costs and sales are very much top-of-mind these days for you and your grower-customers. In fact, most of the chatter on the CropLife website has been about fertilizer lately.
For example, one anonymous reader offered this confirmation of rumors the CropLife staff has been hearing: “N (Nitrogen) could be short in spots this spring, especially NH3 (anyhydrous ammonia). There may be solutions in some areas of the Corn Belt.
“Otherwise,” he continues. “I think P & K (phosphorus and potassium) will be off considerably due to the dealers being upside down. They cannot afford to write down their inventories and farmers are going to demand a cheaper price; therefore, they will hold off on application where they can.
“I think to sum up the problems out there, the retailers were led to believe there was never going to be a downside on fertilizer and the producers were telling the dealers and resellers the product would be tight again in ’09, thus they made the commentment to purchase high end inventories. That’s where the rubber hit the road back in July of ’08 at the Southwest Fertilizer Conference.
“I was in the business 39 years and I never remember an upside like we just went through. There will be dealers going out of business due to the pricing problems they are facing today. Given this. it will be a very interesting spring season in ’09. The men and boys will be separated this year, for sure,” he says.
Another reader, listed as ECIL, commented after reading “Storms Don’t Destroy ’08 Crop Bounty.” The article noted that USDA’s latest corn and soybean harvest reports show an excellent year for these crops.
“But this has knocked the heck out of growers’ interest of purchasing high priced imputs from last summer!” ECIL says. “Thanks PCS, Agrium, and Mosaic for your GREED!!!”
If fertilizer is also high on your agenda, be sure to check out our February issue of CropLife® magazine. Our fertilizer focus will target fertilizer industry trends, viewpoints of various fertilizer manufacturers, and a look at the micronutrient industry.
Do you know professionals in the ag retailer industry who might find this news briefing of value? If so, we hope you will pass along a copy of CropLife eNews to them, with our compliments. Their subscription will be free, as is yours. And they’ll thank you for it.