Nitrogen Fertilizer Prices Are At a 10-Year Low

Nov 28, 2017

There's welcome relief for farmers managing fertilizer inputs on a tight budget next year.

University of Illinois professor of farm management Gary Schnitkey says average nitrogen fertilizer prices have hit a 10-year low.

"Just to give you a feel for that, we're looking at roughly $400 dollars of anhydrous ammonia in 2017, and that's even down considerably from last year at over $500 dollars per ton."

He attributes the decrease to new anhydrous ammonia plants coming online and fewer U.S. corn acres.

Schnitkey tells Brownfield he does not expect nitrogen prices to go up next year.

"However, it's a commodity and anything can happen. We could see a supply cut for whatever reason that would increase those prices. I think something of a strategy of pricing about half of it now and half of it in the spring, sort of spreading the bet, wouldn't be a bad strategy."

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Video: How Does an Anhydrous Ammonia Applicator Work?

Border View Farms is a mid-sized family farm that sits on the Ohio-Michigan border. My name is Nathan. I make and edit all of the videos posted here. I farm with my dad, Mark and uncle, Phil. We also have a part-time employee, Brock. My dad started the farm in 1980. Since then we have grown the operation from just a couple hundred acres to over 3,000. Watch my 500th video for a history of our farm I filmed with my dad.

I started making these videos in the fall of 2019 as a way to help show what I do on a daily basis as a farmer. Agriculture is different from any other industry and I believe the more people that are showing their small piece of agriculture, helps to build our story. We face unique challenges and stressful situations but have some of the most rewarding payoffs in the end. I get to spend everyday doing what I love, raising my kids on the farm, and trying to push our farm to be better every year. I hope that I can address questions or concerns that you might have about farms and agriculture.