Retail Fertilizer Price Declines Slow in Third Week of July

OMAHA (DTN) — Average retail prices for most fertilizers continued to decline in the third week of July 2024, according to sellers surveyed by DTN. But for the first time in five weeks, no fertilizer price saw a significant move, which DTN designates as 5% or more.

Prices for seven of the eight major fertilizers were slightly lower than last month. DAP had an average price of $756 per ton, MAP $821/ton, potash $503/ton, urea $506/ton, anhydrous $696/ton, UAN28 $339/ton and UAN32 $377/ton.

The price of one fertilizer, 10-34-0, was unchanged from last month. The starter fertilizer’s price remained at $642/ton.

On a price per pound of nitrogen basis, the average urea price was at $0.55/lb.N, anhydrous $0.42/lb.N, UAN28 $0.61/lb.N and UAN32 $0.59/lb.N.

In a Rabobank report titled “Tightening the Corn Belt: How U.S. Farmers Adjust Input Spending When Commodity Prices Fall,” economists take a closer look at how U.S. corn farmers respond with their inputs in a lower-margin environment. Clear patterns emerge in the different input categories, according to the report.

Fertilizer expenditures show quite a bit of elasticity. Lower fertilizer prices generally shoulder the bulk of changes in expenditures, but farmers may also adjust volumes by making withdraws in their farm’s fertility bank.

The report said the factor affecting fertilizer volumes is affordability. This is a function of both grain and fertilizer prices, which tend to move in tandem but are also affected by many independent factors, according to Rabobank.

“For the years ahead, affordability will improve, but a drop in U.S. corn acreage means total fertilizer use will be flat,” the report stated.

All fertilizers except one are lower compared to one year ago. MAP is 1% more expensive looking back to last year. Anhydrous is 2% less expensive, DAP is 6% lower, 10-34-0 is 11% less expensive, UAN28 is 12% lower, urea is 15% lower, potash is 17% less expensive and UAN32 is 18% lower in price compared to a year prior.

DTN gathers fertilizer price bids from agriculture retailers each week to compile the DTN Fertilizer Index. DTN first began reporting data in November 2008.

In addition to national averages, MyDTN.com subscribers can access the full DTN Fertilizer Index, which includes state averages, here: https://www.mydtn.com/agriculture/web/ag/markets/fuels-fertilizers#!/fertilizers.

In last week’s column, we looked at retail fertilizer prices six months ago compared to now to see if any new trends could be seen. You can read about it here: https://www.dtnpf.com/agriculture/web/ag/crops/article/2024/07/17/anhydrous-uan32-lead-prices-lower-8.

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

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