Fertilizer shortages this spring?

There have been many years in which I have heard and I am sure many growers have heard, “There will be a fertilizer shortage this spring”. I am not sure on the complete track record of that statement but I do know that it has been used more often than there have been shortages of fertilizer in the market. Now one thing to keep in mind is what does a shortage mean? Is it at the retail or wholesale or even the manufacturer level? Often it is the case that wholesale is short and the retail has buffered the end user (grower) from a potential shortage.

So here I am today to tell you that this spring there will be some fertilizer shortages. In fact, we have seen some products with no supply at the wholesale and retail level already. Here are the products in order of general “tightness” in the market:

10-34 is the leader of the pack with no wholesale mt available today.

28-0-0 is next in line with very limited mts available for purchase.

21-0-0-24 with all the canola acres going in this year it has created a shortage in the market to what demand is.

I believe we will have healthy dry fertilizer; urea, potash and phosphate supplies in the market.

My best guess anyways……