Fertiliser Price Tracker

yellow belly · Apr 5, 2022

bankrupt said:
The soil fertility equation was fatally damaged when the horse gave way to the tractor.

In fact, things first started to go downhill when horses gradually took over from oxen.

when horse were used 1/3 of the arable land was used to fuel them in the ul
the area of grain crops in leistershire was at it highest ever then

usa use 1/3 of it maize for ethanol the co product does get used in livestock production

yellow belly · Apr 5, 2022

the issue is gas supply next winter for europe
this then translates to fertiliser for 2023

AN will be in even shorter supply
not sure the uk govenments delay in urea use restrictions is related to the war
if it is they are quick of the mark

early riser · Apr 6, 2022

Anyone had prices recently on aftercut grades? E.g. 24:0:14 + SO3

thanks

B'o'B · Apr 6, 2022

@Planet Bee just wondering why your reaction to the below was

?
Genuine question, as what I wrote seems to fit with the facts as I understand them, but freely admit I don’t have all the facts.
Thanks

B'o'B said:
CF did leave the UK market. The only reason they are in it now is because of UK government subsidising CO2 production.
They had the gas, but chose to sell it rather than produce fertiliser with it. They have proven themselves to be an unreliable supplier (by there own actions in selling their already purchased gas, not events outside their control.)
They may produce Urea in large quantities, but that hasn't stopped them continually promoting misleading data within the UK to promote AN over Urea.

B'o'B · Apr 6, 2022

yellow belly said:
the issue is gas supply next winter for europe
this then translates to fertiliser for 2023

AN will be in even shorter supply
not sure the uk govenments delay in urea use restrictions is related to the war
if it is they are quick of the mark

I would think the UK fertilizer manufacturing plants pulling up the shutters would also have been a factor, but most of the rest of the AN that might come to our shores comes from countries that rely heavily on Russian gas, so I imagine that might have been the icing on the cake.

Two Tone · Apr 6, 2022

I don't understand the talk of putting Urea on shortly before a rain event. I've used Urea as my only source of N since the mid 80's (Autumn sown crops). Putting it on in 2 doses, approx 1/3 on a frost in February and the remainder as 1 dose between 1st and 7th April. No point in splitting to add a 3rd dose unless it is for milling wheat and even then Urea works/worked perfectly well for a late May/June application.
Many times it hasn't rained for weeks after the application and it still works just as well, when the rain does arrive.
It cannot volatilise unless it is put on damp, bare soil which need to be at least 26 degrees centigrade, which it never gets to under the crop canopy.

The only problems I have ever had with Urea is on Winter Barley after the 1st dose, if it remains very cold and Urea doesn't become available until it warms up enough to prevent the crop going yellow.

Urea also lasts in the ground for more than a year. Which potentially means that if we did go a year without any N applications, some will still be there from the year before. I've seen this happen in new GS4 Herb and Legume Rich Pastures, where there is no way that the clover is providing all the N that this crop uses in year one. Also noticeable are the previous double dosed areas where we switched from 12 to 24 metre tramline headlands, with corn going flat for several years in those same areas, 3 years after the switch.

AN is not available in many hot Countries like Australia. They also do not need an inhibitor on Urea.
Why are they allowed to use Urea, if they potentially have a far higher risk of Ammonia volatilisation than we do?

I'd go as far as saying the risk of AN leaching after any rain event is infinitely more of a risk than any problems that Urea may pose. Never in approaching 40 years of use, have I ever smelled even a hint Ammonia from Urea usage!

We used to have a Joint venture with a neighbouring farm that only used AN. On no occasion whatsoever did their crops ever out-yield ours, even when they were using 10 - 20% higher total rates of N than we did.
My conclusion is that using AN was literally throwing money down the drain, in extra cost/KgN, product efficiency and having to put on extra applications so as to prevent so much of it literally being washed away!
Of any N fertiliser product we can use, Urea is the best by far.

Lincsman · Apr 6, 2022

Two Tone said:
I don't understand the talk of putting Urea on shortly before a rain event. I've used Urea as my only source of N since the mid 80's (Autumn sown crops). Putting it on in 2 doses, approx 1/3 on a frost in February and the remainder as 1 dose between 1st and 7th April. No point in splitting to add a 3rd dose unless it is for milling wheat and even then Urea works/worked perfectly well for a late May/June application.
Many times it hasn't rained for weeks after the application and it still works just as well, when the rain does arrive.
It cannot volatilise unless it is put on damp, bare soil which need to be at least 26 degrees centigrade, which it never gets to under the crop canopy.

The only problems I have ever had with Urea is on Winter Barley after the 1st dose, if it remains very cold and Urea doesn't become available until it warms up enough to prevent the crop going yellow.

Urea also lasts in the ground for more than a year. Which potentially means that if we did go a year without any N applications, some will still be there from the year before. I've seen this happen in new GS4 Herb and Legume Rich Pastures, where there is no way that the clover is providing all the N that this crop uses in year one. Also noticeable are the previous double dosed areas where we switched from 12 to 24 metre tramline headlands, with corn going flat for several years in those same areas, 3 years after the switch.

AN is not available in many hot Countries like Australia. They also do not need an inhibitor on Urea.
Why are they allowed to use Urea, if they potentially have a far higher risk of Ammonia volatilisation than we do?

I'd go as far as saying the risk of AN leaching after any rain event is infinitely more of a risk than any problems that Urea may pose. Never in approaching 40 years of use, have I ever smelled even a hint Ammonia from Urea usage!

We used to have a Joint venture with a neighbouring farm that only used AN. On no occasion whatsoever did their crops ever out-yield ours, even when they were using 10 - 20% higher total rates of N than we did.
My conclusion is that using AN was literally throwing money down the drain, in extra cost/KgN, product efficiency and having to put on extra applications so as to prevent so much of it literally being washed away!
Of any N fertiliser product we can use, Urea is the best by far.

Also my experience over a similar time, cant be all wrong as I have had a few 5t/ac crops.

Two Tone · Apr 6, 2022

Lincsman said:
Also my experience over a similar time, cant be all wrong as I have had a few 5t/ac crops.

We have also occasionally seen 5t/acre crops here too. Always in the dryer years!

Edit: Canadian farmer Mike Mitchel reckons he won’t need much Urea this year after last year’s devastating drought and extremely poor harvest. He put it all on by combine drilling it. He couldn’t sell any wheat, because he needs all he harvested as this year’s seed. However, as so little, if any of the urea he applied last year was used, it’s all still there and can be used for this year’s crops.

yellow belly · Apr 6, 2022

When soil cores are tested for n in the early spring those emediatly after heavy rain show lower n in the soil because the nitrates have been washed away
urea is converted to nitrates for uptake but take time and temperature AN can lose it nitrates in heavy rain

I do believe the compromise of no untreated urea after 1 April is the best we could have hoped for from those in power
the opposition parties would ban the use of all fertiliser they ignore all science when it suits them and mostly hate farmers

bobk · Apr 6, 2022

Is it £300 yet ?

YELROM · Apr 6, 2022

bobk said:
Is it £300 yet ?

You missed it that was yesterday

7610 super q · Apr 9, 2022

https://www.facebook.com/midcontinent.farms.9/photos/a.803958469640777/4916400538396529

Woody j · Apr 9, 2022

7610 super q said:
https://www.facebook.com/midcontinent.farms.9/photos/a.803958469640777/4916400538396529

Ur obviously only putting on 1 kg ha

Planet Bee · Apr 10, 2022

B'o'B said:
@Planet Bee just wondering why your reaction to the below was ?
Genuine question, as what I wrote seems to fit with the facts as I understand them, but freely admit I don’t have all the facts.
Thanks

Because you hit the nail on the head!

It’s laughable that one of the world’s largest Urea producers spend so much time and money knocking it locally in the UK.

They also produce AN currently in the US. Over there, they give their customers free choice though

colhonk · Apr 10, 2022

They probs make a lot bigger profit from an in uk, especially now they have got rid of urea in uk.

Planet Bee · Apr 10, 2022

colhonk said:
They probs make a lot bigger profit from an in uk, especially now they have got rid of urea in uk.

with gas at 5 times the cost in Europe than the US, I doubt the UK subsidiary is a "star asset" for the group

from what I recall, the UK arm contributed to a hefty impairment of their global result; written off for a potential sale? Less likely now that the Russians are persona non grata maybe...

bankrupt · Apr 10, 2022

colhonk said:
They probs make a lot bigger profit from an in uk,

At current prices, no - gas/AN terms of trade are far better in the US.

But who the devil knows what their hedging strategies might have been and how long they are still good for.

redsloe · Apr 10, 2022

Anybody had any prices for AN recently?
Are they still trying to sell April's allocation?

smallholder99 · Apr 10, 2022

redsloe said:
Anybody had any prices for AN recently?
Are they still trying to sell April's allocation?

in local coop,heard them tell an old boy a bag of 25.5.5 is £925/ton,hope hes feeling better now

Greythundercloudys · Apr 11, 2022

Got some 24 4 4 with sulphur delivered today, the guy on the lorry has never seen it so slow, normally 15 lorry waiting for it at montrose hardly any and farms getn it are just spending same amount on it but getn less tonnage than other years, me included.

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