OBSERVER photo by Dennis Phillips Dick Kimball of Dewittville is pictured at Country Ayre Farms. Kimball said there is a worry about short supply and the potential for farmers to have less crops planted this upcoming season.

The price of fertilizer that farmers spread yearly on their crops in the harvest season has increased, causing concern for some Chautauqua County farmers.

There are multiple reasons for the increase, including the price of milk going up, along with the price of corn. But similar to fuel prices, a large part of the increase is due to the current war between Russia and Ukraine.

According to Randy Wassink of Clymer, the conflict in Ukraine may have less of an impact right now than it will later because many places already have their fertilizer.

âUkraine probably doesn’t have much to do with the fertilizer that is going in the ground this spring,” Wassink said. “A lot of places already have their fertilizer in storage or on hand. Planting in the south has already started.”

Wassink added that it is more likely that the United States no longer doing business with Russia will affect the fertilizer being bought for 2023 more.

The fertilizer that most farms use on their crops is made up of three parts; nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Of the three parts, nitrogen is the only one that is exported from Russia, meaning the cost of nitrogen in the fertilizer is what is currently increasing. Phosphorus and potassium can be mined in multiple places in the world but mostly come respectively from Florida and Canada.

The price of potassium from Canada now has the potential to increase as well, according to Dick Kimball of Dewittville.

âI was just reading that the railroad in Canada has gone on strike,” Kimball said, “and the fertilizer that we get from Canada comes in on the railroad.ã

Additionally, Kimball said there is a worry about short supply and the potential for farmers to have less crops planted this upcoming season.

âI just happened to talk to my fertilizer guy this morning,” Kimball said. âThe price of fertilizer is twice the amount than it was this time last year. But, inputs for weed control have gone up 25%. Everything’s gone up really, all of the inputs for farmers are really high. I’m worried about the potential of having short supply. We used to be able to get our price for fertilizer before we bought it, now we have to wait for that day. I worry this will mean less inputs and crops as well.”

Bradley Edwards of Clymer also discussed higher input costs hurting local farmers in the current and upcoming season.

âI still buy fertilizer but with the high cost this year I won’t be buying as much,” Edwards said. “It’s sad that when the farmer finally gets a little more money for his products there is a higher input cost for him. Unfortunately, everything follows the price of fuel and I don’t see it going down anytime soon. Grain is going to have a big part in robbing milk check profits this year. I really feel for the farmer on that one.”

Along similar lines, Wassink said that prices for items such as corn have increased, leading to the farmer earning more money. This means they can afford to spend more, making their return on investment higher and leading to the cost of everything increasing.

Similarly, he added that the price of everything that uses nitrogen will increase because of the Russia and Ukraine war, so as the price of nitrogen increases so does everything else that has nitrogen in it.

âWhen the fuel prices go up like a rocket and down like a feather, fertilizer and other commodities will do the same thing,” Wassink said.

But, it is possible, Wassink said, for farmers to do something else to help with the increased fertilizer price. This includes the use of sulfur ä which makes other nitrogens that are not synthetic work better ä in items such as gypsum.

âThe agronomy in the local counties is unique in that it is very dairy-based,” Wassink said. “With the use of things like cow manure, which we have a lot of, the demand for synthetic nitrogen and the use of it can be severely reduced or minimized.”