By Fred Nichols
Chief Marketing Officer,
Bio Huma Netics, Inc.

Are we looking at a fertilizer shortage? Guess it depends on your definition. The availability of fertilizer isn’t a major concern in the US. It really wasn’t last year, either. As a good friend (who I consider to be among the best farmers in the country) told me last winter, “you can get it, it’s just a matter of how much you’re willing to spend for it.” That’s the issue many farmers are facing right now. How much do I invest? And do I seek alternatives to traditional NPK sources? Many of these alternatives, such as humate-based products, offer high value, improved soil health and lower overall rates/expenditures. Fertilizer prices remain historically high, but there’s not the degree of market volatility expected as there was last year. As a result, Q4 sales have moved slower than last year. But while input prices remain high, so do crop prices. That is incentivizing many farmers to chase yield. A recent survey confirms just that. Demand is strong for all fertilizer categories. 60% of farmers expect to increase micronutrient usage in 2023, 59% will increase liquid fertilizer, 51% will increase specialty fertilizers and 48% will increase yield enhancers/growth managers. Last week’s World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report, which was bullish on the major commodity crops, should continue to carry momentum for yield chasers. [Read more…]