Nitrogen fertilizer going up 80% 2022 prediction
The cost of fertilizer exploded in 2021, and farmers across the country are going to be hit even harder in 2022, according to a new study by Texas A&M University’s Agricultural and Food Policy Center.
“As the nation struggles to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of supply chain disruptions continue to wreak havoc on agricultural input markets, both in terms of availability and cost of inputs,” the researchers wrote in the study that evaluated the potential impact on various types and sizes of farms.
Fertilizer costs will be as much as 80% higher than last year for this year’s planting season, the study said.
The study is based on data for 64 representative farms that A&M economists regularly use to evaluate the impact of policy and economic changes. The study found that the average feed grain operation would pay $128,000 more on fertilizer in 2022, an increase of $39.55 per acre.
Rice growers would see the biggest cost increase on a per-acre basis with the increase coming to $62.04 per acre, according to the study. An average cotton farm will pay about $114,000 more this year, or $29.72 per acre.