News
Fertilizer prices vulnerable to potential tariffs
An agronomy salesman says he’s nervous about the potential threat tariffs could have on fertilizer prices during the next administration.
Phil Tuggle with Michigan Agricultural Commodities says there could be major price impacts.
“We do import fertilizer even though we’re nitrogen neutral, we produce about what we need in the country, but to move the price down, we need imports to help that situation,” he explains. “Anytime you start talking about tariffs, it makes the hair on the back of my neck go up a little bit.”
The U.S. imports about 94 percent of its potash fertilizer, 85 percent of that is sourced from Canada. Recent analysis by Michigan State University Extension finds a 25 percent tariff on Canadian goods as proposed by President-elect Trump could increase prices by $114 per ton.
Tuggle tells Brownfield he has yet to see changes in farmer buying habits or the impact of limited farmer profitability on yearend purchases.
“I think that because we’ve come off a fairly tough year on the commodity side, farmers are a little reluctant to spend any additional money, but in the same token, they don’t change their buying habits that much.”
Add Comment