Courtesy of the latest Tillage Edge podcast, Teagasc’s head of crops knowledge transfer department, Michael Hennessy, assesses the possible impact of fast-increasing fertiliser prices on crop-production costs.

He said:

“It’s great to see grain prices climb to heights not seen in a long time; however, fuel prices, especially those for gas, have rocketed.

“Farmers are watching this closely and will be considering what crops to grow in 2022. The profitability of high nitrogen-requiring crops may come into question.

Hennessy was joined on the podcast by Teagasc crops’ specialist, Shay Phelan who commented that a range of issues – not just gas prices and supply – are currently impacting on fertiliser prices.

“Potash is a big requirement within our farming systems. However, the EU currently has an embargo in place against Belarus, one of the world’s largest exporters of potash," he said.

Phelan added:

“But the big fear we have at the moment is that of talking ourselves into a crisis. This is a global issue, not just an Irish issue.

“There is a lot of speculation out there at the moment. But one thing that does concern me is the fact that a lot of factories that should be making fertiliser right now are not doing so.

The question was then asked: should farmers be considering a phosphorous (P) and potassium (K) holiday at this stage?

“This may sound very basic. But unless farmers know the exact P, K and pH levels of their soils right now, it could be a false economy taking a phosphate and potash holiday."

He added:

“Given the yields that we have had in 2021, there will have been a lot of P and K removed from soils over recent months.

“Straw chopping will return some P and K to soils. And in these cases there may be some scope to reduce phosphate and potash applications to crops in 2022.

He concluded:

“So it’s not just the prices of fertiliser that farmers muist take account of: there is a range of other factors to be considered.”