From rising cost of fuel to the steep increases in fertilizer prices, it’s been a costly year for farmers.
“With the increase in the price of diesel and fuels, of course, it gets passed down to the farmer,” said Angela Zike, board director for District 7 (Oxford and Waterloo) with the Grain Farmers of Ontario (GFO), adding that a major pressure right now is the price of fertilizer.
“Fertilizer costs are up. They’ve continuously been going up for the past two years, but they’re up again, and inputs are all up.”
The war between the United States and Iran has disrupted critical shipping routes for nitrogen and urea through the Strait of Hormuz, contributing to the price increase. Lingering tariffs on Russian imported fertilizer and high regional fuel and transportation costs are also contributing to the price increases.
Zike added that it isn’t just one input cost, such as fertilizer, that poses a challenge to farmers; it is the cumulative increase in every input, such as fuel, that puts a strain on farmers’ wallets this year.
“It’s not one cost. It’s a cumulative effect of elevated cost, while commodity prices remain volatile, so we’re putting in more and more and more, and not knowing if we’re ever going to get it back out again,” noted Zike, adding that machinery is another input seeing price increases.
“New machinery, new equipment prices are up astronomically.”
Steel and aluminum tariffs, high manufacturing energy inputs, and climbing part costs are all contributing to the jump in machinery prices. Zike emphasized that rising input costs are an all-too-familiar situation for agricultural producers.
“It’s stressful. It’s not knowing if you’re going to get your money, your investment back,” said Zike.
To help ease the financial burden, the GFO is advocating that the Canadian government remove tariffs on Russian fertilizer imports.
“We’re always just advocating on behalf of farmers to get the respect that we’re due for the high GDP that we bring to Canada and Ontario. So, I would say we’re also working on getting the fertilizer tariffs removed,” said Zike, noting that it is a tough situation politically.
“You’re taking tariffs off someone who’s war mongering but it’s also just punishing us [farmers]. We need fertilizer to grow corn. There’s no option.”
Beyond policy changes to help with fertilizer costs, farmers can reduce the fertilizer they are using by doing soil testing.
“Soil testing, I think right now probably provides the best return on investment on a farm with high soil with high fertilizer prices,” said Ben Rosser, Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness (OMAFA) corn specialist.
To start an appropriate soil fertility program, farmers should sample their fields once every two or three years. For a typical soil test, farmers would collect 10 to 15 core samples in a designated area, with each sample collected at a depth of six inches in the soil.
However, growers don’t necessarily have to perform the tests themselves.
“There’s lots of ag retailers, and consultants that will do fertilizer sampling as well,” said Rosser.
The actual samples are sent to a third-party lab accredited by OMAFA for the physical testing. The soil test will evaluate soil pH, organic matter, and extractable macronutrient levels, specifically checking for plant-available nutrients. Phosphorus and potassium are the two primary minerals tracked on standard tests.
“For phosphorus and potassium and some micronutrients, things don’t change a lot year to year. So, for those nutrients, the general recommendation is to sample maybe once every three years, and try to do it at the same time of year because sometimes moisture and things like that can impact things,” said Rosser.
He added that nitrogen is a nutrient that is treated differently because it is highly unstable in the soil. During harvest, it is also physically removed from the field.
“Every year we kind of you lose what’s there and you start new again,” said Rosser.
While having a soil sample done takes a little bit of time and has some cost if the farmer is hiring a consultant, Rosser said there really isn’t a good excuse not to do one, considering the potential for cost savings.
“For the prices of fertilizer you’re talking, I think it’s important to have one done.”
