As a global shortage of fertilizer leads to prices more than doubling, Canadian farmers say they may be forced to plant less or sell their produce at much higher prices..“I think there’s going to be some producers that will decide either to not plant or to plant less, so I don’t think the price increases that consumers have seen up to now are finished. That pressure is just continuing to increase,” said Marcus Janzen, first vice-president of the.Board for the Fruits and Vegetable Growers of Canada (FVGC)..Russia’s war in Ukraine and the West’s subsequent sanctions on the Kremlin have squeezed the world’s supply of fertilizer, leading to skyrocketing prices and farmers scrambling to secure supplies for the 2022 growing season. According to the United Nations, Russia is the world’s top exporter of nitrogen fertilizer and the second biggest exporter of phosphorus and potassium fertilizers..Janzen, who is also a greenhouse grower in B.C., said farmers were already facing issues securing fertilizer due to the severe flooding that hit the province in November 2021. Now Janzen said farmers are seeing the price of nitrogen and phosphate-based fertilizer double and nearly triple, and delivery times have become unpredictable and sporadic..Todd Lewis, vice-president of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture, said he has also seen a “more than 100% increase” in the price of fertilizer. He said Western Canada is “blessed” to be a major producer of potash, a key component in fertilizer, but the country will need to scale up its production of other fertilizer ingredients if the war in Ukraine continues into 2023..Quinton Woods, chair of the FVGC Trade and Marketing Working Group and Sales and Plant Operations Manager at an Ontario farm, said the Liberal government has made the situation worse by implementing a 35% tariff on Russian imports of fertilizer..He added sanctioning Russian fertilizer had “no direct impact on the country,” since it had already been paid for and shipped overseas. “It’s just hurting Canadian growers and Canadian consumers.”.Woods said his biggest fear is that growers won’t be able to market their crops and that people will be “forced to choose between fuel or food.” He added that with the cost of inputs rising for farmers, it is “about time we start bringing domestic production of natural gas and fertilizers back to Canada.”.Dave de Vries, the owner of Agriculture Solutions, said demand for his organic, regenerative fertilizer has increased “dramatically” over the last few months..“We’re getting more calls and more requests than we’ve ever had before,” he said. “Guys are looking at options due to the fact that their convention fertilizer and chemical prices have increased.”.de Vries said his company has also been feeling the pinch of weakened global supply chains. Anticipating supply disruptions for the 2022 growing season, de Vries ordered fertilizer ahead of time, on June 21, 2021..That shipment only arrived two weeks ago, and.de Viers said he has already ordered.fertilizer for the 2023 growing season..“The other thing we’ve noticed is that delivery rates are changing dramatically,” de Vries said, noting that freight rates from Australia to Vancouver have ballooned from $6,000 to $24,000, and trucking rates from Vancouver to Ontario have grown from $5,000 to $13,000..de Vries said thanks to planning in advance, his company has not had to raise fertilizer prices. “But I can’t say it’s going to be the same for next year. I think we’re going to have to relook at some of those things moving forward.”.Matthew Horwood is the Parliamentary Bureau Chief of the Western Standard.mhorwood@westernstandard.news.Twitter.com/@Matt_HorwoodWS
