Fertilizer pricing

**henbent** · Nov 4, 2003, 16:19

Years ago, here in A.B. companies used to sell to individual farmers. There was a least one company in Fort Saskachewan where farmers could line up and wait for service (meanwhile commercial vehicles passed the lineup) and were loaded. Farmers waited for hour upon hour to have a chance to load up themselves and save a bit. This practise however stopped. In fact, the last I heard was that companies refuse to sell to individuals, instead directing them to their retailers. Farmers recently tried without success to buy spray products, but were denied.

**sshiels** · Nov 5, 2003, 08:42

I have a friend in southern MB that buys direct. What are you looking for and where?

**rain** · Nov 5, 2003, 08:53

Interestingly if fertilizer cost are supposed to be 60-70% energy cost (natuarl gas)since june of this year natuarl gas prices have depreciated by 40%. I hate talking conspiracy theory x-file stuff. I do not see why fertizer prices are higher then last year. Each day you wait to buy and neighbors do buy your fertilizer in theory will get cheeper as more expensive natural gas in storage is replaced with cheaper new gas new make more fertilizer.

**henbent** · Nov 5, 2003, 10:36

rain, You are not suggesting that the open market would take advantage of us poor farmers! It appears to me, that when grain prices are good, or we've had a decent crop, FERTILIZER PRICES ARE HIGH. This tends to repeat time after time. What a racket!!

**rain** · Nov 5, 2003, 11:02

Open markets are good. 0 competition is not good.

**dfarms11** · Nov 5, 2003, 20:46

Well I guess I would for the most part be looking for urea since it is the most volatile and most needed. Although if the prices were right I would buy 11-51 as well. I am from the Edmonton area.

**dfarms11** · Nov 5, 2003, 20:55

On another note, about your discusion on the prices being not really related to natural gas price because it should have been cheaper this year, this is something I have been told. All the big wigs that have the natural gas don't like to produce fertilizer. They would rather store their excess "cheaper", natural gas produced in the summer than create fertilizer with it. The obvious reason being that they can make their top dollar selling that natural gas in the winter at the high rates. Therefore fertilizer prices are based on the highest price of gas throughout the year, not being priced accordingly throughout the year. Hope what I just said came out right!

**henbent** · Nov 6, 2003, 18:47

I thought that, supply and demand was what drives the open market. Apparently in reality, it is greed! Everyone is grabbing and gouging. The only exception to that rule is commodity prices, grain is cheap and according to some, should be cheaper!!

**wd9** · Nov 7, 2003, 08:53

So why do we buy more expensive fertilizer to produce more grain to lower its value?

Fertilizer pricing