A CONSIDERABLE drop in fertiliser prices has helped bring back confidence and affordability in cropping and farming.
In its Australian Fertiliser Outlook 2024/25, specialist agribusiness Rabobank said Australian farm fertiliser consumption had declined 20 per cent in 2022, as the agricultural sector grappled with historically-high prices for farm inputs, driven by factors including COVID and the Russia-Ukraine war.
However, Rabobank said with prices now returning to more average levels and farmers seeking to replenish soil nutrients, another potentially good winter crop planting next year should see a strong recovery in fertiliser demand.
Wangaratta-based Keam Fertilisers operations manager Luke Keam believes farmers this year have had a break in the financial weather despite a struggling Australian dollar as fertiliser prices have halved this season compared to 2022 which has resulted in a big increase in his workload.
“Fertiliser prices in Australia have remained steady with world pricing as we wait for the Australian dollar to increase which will allow fertiliser prices to further improve,” he said.
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“Nitrogen priced products were sitting at $1500 per tonne in 2022 compared to $800/tonne in 2023, which gives our local farmers confidence to purchase and use these vital products to improve crops and pastures.
“The supply and demand of fertiliser has more than doubled in the Wangaratta region.
“Urea is another product used by farmers that has been neglected to use due to high prices but once again, farmers haven’t had to reach too deep in their pocket to buy this product.
“The overall forecast for fertiliser prices in the future is promising.”
Rabobank farm inputs analyst Vitor Pistoia said farm input costs had begun to decline substantially from mid-last year, allowing fertiliser affordability to improve back close to historically-average levels, despite significant drops also being experienced in the prices of agricultural commodities such as grain, oilseeds, beef and dairy.
He said the “largest price relief” for fertiliser had come late in the buying period for the 2023/24 cropping season, so a recovery in demand and application rates was most likely to be seen in the coming 2024/25 season.
Further support for a recovery in demand would also come from farmers wanting to replenish depleted soil nutrients, after three years of good crop yields, he said.
Mr Pistoia said Rabobank’s expectations of a strengthening Australian dollar in the coming 12 months should also make the purchase of imported goods, like fertilisers and ag chemicals, more affordable.
