While application season is still weeks away, retailers and other suppliers are encouraging farmers to reserve product now. Farmers will be using more anhydrous ammonia this fall.
If fall applications of anhydrous ammonia (NH3) are a go-to for a farm/ranch fertility program – or expected to be this year – they should consider calling their supplier asap to lock in product.
While application season is still some weeks away, waiting to buy NH3 could result in derailing your post-harvest nutrient game plan, according to Josh Linville, vice president of fertilizer for StoneX.
Logistically, in order for farmers/ranchers to have product ready to go, he says, the time is now.
“We are kind of at zero hour. We’ve got to start making decisions on what we are and are not going to do,” Linville told AgriTalk Host Chip Flory recently.
While NH3 is not cheap – and no fertilizer is – it is well-priced relative to other nitrogen options including urea and UAN. Anhydrous ammonia is also readily available in the current pipeline. For those reasons, Linville anticipates farmers who have the application equipment will put more anhydrous on their fields this fall. He says the potential downside to expected high demand could be a run on product, depleting availability in the marketplace and increasing costs. “I do think the prices will push slightly higher,” he adds.
EDITOR’S TAKE:
Farmers/ranchers are already concerned about input costs going up across the board. Now with tariffs restricting some supplies of fertilizer and fall application season rapidly approaching, they are concerned about how much they can afford to pay and how much they can afford to use. Corn prices have pushed a little higher recently, which helps alleviate some of the pressure. Soybean prices, on the other hand, have not and it has soy producers very concerned.
Once again, AgPack® can be your friend when talking about fertilizer with farmers/ranchers in your area. You may recall us mentioning the name AgroLiquid in the past. They were the very first AgPack® partner in our program. Refresh your memory and take a look at their generous offer, and all the others for that matter. Then, if a farmer/rancher mentions concerns about input costs or fertilizer costs, you will be well equipped to have just the right answer!
