Fertilizer Prices Set to Skyrocket

While the onset of COVID prompted panic-buying of canning lids and garden seeds in 2020, fertilizer supplies were virtually unscathed and prices have remained about the same.  Unfortunately, it looks like that’s about to change for 2022.

Higher prices around the globe for coal and natural gas, which help create the industrial urea used in fertilizer, are making urea more expensive.  China and Russia, the world’s top producers of urea, naturally, are both suspending exports of fertilizer for at least six months.  You know, the period when it’s needed to grow crops here.  They’re conserving it to grow food in their own countries. 

Urea is also important to being able to run diesel trucks, like the ones that deliver food to grocery stores, or the farming equipment that grows that food. Of course, skyrocketing costs for synthetic fertilizer will have a domino effect on other fertilizers.  According to one source, the price for a short ton of manure in Iowa is now selling for $40-70, up from $10 a year ago.  (It makes me really glad I bought a pallet of manure when this whole mess started three months ago.)  Another domino with the urea shortage is that corn is considered a high demand crop, as in high fertilizer demand.  So if the fertilizer is too expensive or unavailable, some farmers will grow something else.  And as a little FYI, the vast majority of corn grown in this country is field corn, and it goes into just about everything that is manufactured, food-wise. 

Of course, a lot of the foods that contain corn as an ingredient have only a little and the price won’t be affected that much due to the corn content.  Others, however, have a lot more corn and those prices will skyrocket.  In addition, field corn is used to feed all kinds of livestock.  The prices for chicken, beef, pork, eggs, and dairy will necessarily rise—much more than they already have.

The rising inflation we see in the prices of food, fuel, and other supplies will wake a few more people when they recognize this as a recipe for disaster.  Naturally, they will want to begin gardening, and this will prompt a rush on the fertilizer still in stores.  Garden tools, seeds, and (more) canning supplies may also be affected.  And because some of these people will remember what happened in 2020, they might start shopping a little earlier this year. 

You might want to start shopping a little earlier too, especially if fertilizer is on your list.  And that’s because of something I’ve noticed here.  I don’t know whether it will hold true in other areas.  See, I make a stop at Home Depot as part of my weekly shopping trip.  It started in spring 2021 with getting deeply discounted flowers and pallets of broken bags of soil amendments.  It continued with end-of-season clearance on perennials.  Those alone are reason enough to make Home Depot part of my regular routine.  However, in the past little while, I have scored some amazing deals on fertilizer.  In October, I got a couple of bags of blood meal for 50% off.  Maybe I should have waited.  That’s because in the middle of December, I happened upon a couple dozen quart bottles of 5-1-1 liquid concentrate fish fertilizer for $1 each.  I bought most of them.  Two weeks ago I got several bags of azalea fertilizer 4-3-4 for $2 each.  Last week I picked up 11 eight-pound bags of organic flower and vegetable fertilizer for a dollar each.  There were also bags of flea, tick, and ant pesticide for the grass, not something I normally buy, but for 10 cents each, I made an exception. 

I’m not sure why this is happening, but I’ve got a couple of guesses.  The first is that some of these suppliers have gone out of business, and thus their products will no longer be stocked.  The second is that the packaging is going to be changed—probably downsized and up-priced. 

I hope I’m just being overly concerned and that nothing serious will be happening to limit our ability to grow our own food this summer.  But the past two years have been doozies, and I’m not really confident that life will return to normal this year.  Besides, if the fertilizer isn’t needed this year, it will store well enough for future years.  Better to have and not need, than need and not have.

References:

https://kscorn.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Common-Items-Containing-Corn.pdf

https://ukragroconsult.com/en/news/global-fertilizer-shortage-sends-demand-for-manure-soaring/

https://www.businessinsider.com/everyday-foods-contain-corn-prices-soar-2012-7?op=1#baked-goods-12

https://www.businessinsider.com/corn-product-infographic-2012-7?op=1