Reading Time: 2 minutes The Hague | Reuters — Police in the Dutch city of The Hague closed its central parliament square on Wednesday to keep out farmers protesting over what they see as attempts to blame them for nitrogen pollution. Thousands of irate farmers had driven tractors to The Hague hours earlier in their third large protest in […] Read more
Angry farmers cause Dutch police to close off parliament square
Fertilizer prices to rise on global production shifts
Reading Time: 2 minutes CNS Canada — Canadian fertilizer prices are expected to increase as spring draws nearer, according to industry professionals. “The further you buy out from spring, the prices tend to be a little bit lower. In making your commitments early, prices tend to edge up as you get closer to spring,” said Don Kitson of International […] Read more
Global fertilizer prices set to fall
Reading Time: 2 minutes CNS Canada — Global fertilizer demand has been higher, leading to increased prices, but with more capacity coming online prices should start to fall, according to an analyst. “Urea prices globally have moved a little higher over the past few months. They’ve been relatively volatile, that’s just kind of a function of some better than […] Read more
Industry still looking for new NH3 tank rule break
Reading Time: 2 minutes Fertilizer Canada and the Canadian Association of Agri-Retailers (CAAR) say there will be enough anhydrous ammonia nurse tanks available to supply the fertilizer to farmers during this growing season. New Transport Canada regulations came into force Jan. 12, which affect the frequency of hydrostatic testing and visual inspection of ammonia nurse and applicator tanks and […] Read more
Is split N really best?
The debate continues, with a focus on technology, soil and weather — and then being prepared to break with tradition
Reading Time: 8 minutes Advances in technology are driving many on-farm practices, creating operating efficiencies and production advantages. From robotics and variable-rate technology all the way back to the first GPS yield monitors, new systems and designs have changed and will continue to change the way farmers farm. Splitting or delaying nitrogen (N) applications in corn is different, and […] Read more
Nutrien sees demand growth cooling, margins shrinking
Reading Time: < 1 minute Reuters — Nutrien, the Canadian fertilizer and farm supply dealer created from the merger of Agrium and PotashCorp this year, said it expected demand growth for potash in China and India to cool down in 2018. Nutrien, the world’s biggest fertilizer company by capacity, also said higher input costs would shrink nitrogen and phosphate margins. […] Read more
Nitrogen looking cheap across Prairies
Reading Time: < 1 minute CNS Canada — Farmers in Manitoba may be looking to fill up on nitrogen fertilizer this fall as prices reach lows not seen in over a decade. “One retailer I talked to said it was the cheapest nitrogen prices in 15 years,” according to Dan Mazier, president of Keystone Agricultural Producers. Prices also seem to […] Read more
Canada’s antitrust watchdog clears Nutrien merger
Reading Time: 3 minutes Canada’s Competition Bureau will put up no reasons why PotashCorp and Agrium shouldn’t be joined in Nutrien. The federal antitrust regulator on Monday issued a “no action” letter on the all-stock merger-of-equals that Saskatoon’s PotashCorp and Calgary’s Agrium proposed in September last year. The two companies, when merged, are to be headquartered in Saskatoon under […] Read more
Ontario watershed study shows overapplication of phosphorus
Reading Time: 3 minutes Farmers in one Huron County, Ont. watershed are applying almost exactly the nitrogen needed by their crops, but more than 30 per cent more phosphorus than is needed. University of Guelph researchers reached the conclusions by analyzing multiple years of data collected by the Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority during in-person interviews with farmers in the […] Read more
Farmers wait for fertilizer prices to fall amid oversupply
Reading Time: 3 minutes CNS Canada — As more fertilizer plants are built around the world and U.S. corn acreage shrinks, the typical thinking holds that prices for urea and nitrogen should fall, but that hasn’t been the case so far for Canadian farmers. “They’re more on the steady side,” said Todd Lewis, president of the Agricultural Producers Association […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
