When the last frost has passed after the winter, fields and meadows can be fertilized again – actually. Whether this can be done so extensively in the coming year is still in the stars: fertilizer is becoming scarce. The reason for this, as in so many other areas at the moment, is the high energy costs. They are forcing many fertilizer manufacturers in Europe to cut production; some plants have already stopped altogether. And the fertilizer that is still being produced now costs a lot more than it did two years ago. The crisis has long since reached the local warehouses, which then supply the farmers in the region.
“The current prices are almost utopian.”
“The situation is serious,” says Richard Kinshofer from the agricultural warehouse Festl & Kinshofer in Poing. While most farmers normally order in December for the following year, some have already tried to secure fertilizer. “The current prices are almost utopian,” comments Kinshofer: A variety that normally costs 20 to 30 euros per 100 kilograms on average is currently over 90 euros. He knows from some of his customers, the farmers in the region, that they used a lot less fertilizer this year, especially on the meadow – and therefore had a lot less yield.
The main problem, Kinshofer explains, is the fertilizer mixed with nitrogen, which requires a lot of gas to produce. Many farmers are now increasingly using biogas waste as fertilizer. These are usually not as popular because the wheat cannot absorb them as quickly as synthetic fertilizers. “The soil first has to convert the organic phosphorus,” explains Kinshofer, “that’s not so effective.” Switching to biogas is not necessarily the solution to all problems either: those who use it as fertilizer have to drive the tractor across their fields much more often – and in doing so they also consume more expensive diesel. “If we don’t have enough fertilizer, the next harvest will be a lot scarcer,” he says. The period of seven to eight record harvests, as we had in the past ten years, will then be over for the time being. With a view to the drought, Kinshofer assumes that next year’s harvest will be at least ten to twenty percent lower.
Many farmers stocked up on fertilizer for spring as early as July and August
It has been clear for months that fertilizers are becoming increasingly scarce, reports Markus Spötzl from the Raiffeisen warehouse in Aßling. Alzon, a stabilized urea, and Piamon, a nitrogen-sulphur fertilizer, are particularly affected. For example, one of the largest German fertilizer manufacturers, SKW nitrogen works Piesteritz in Saxony-Anhalt, is currently at a standstill. “We can’t buy anything there at the moment,” says Spötzl. “We already had to turn some farmers off.” For example, the production of BASF in Friedrichshafen or of Yara, a Norwegian manufacturer with a branch in Rostock, has also been throttled. Many farmers stocked up on fertilizer for the coming spring as early as July and August. Markus Spötzl also mentions the possibility of switching to other fertilizers that are not as efficient. “It has to go like this for a year,” he says, “there’s no getting around it.”
Some crops can also be fertilized with liquid manure or residues from the biogas plant, but not all.
(Photo: Peter Hinz-Rosin)
Jakob Kraus, a farmer from Zorneding, has not yet ordered the fertilizer for next year. “Maybe it will be cheaper next year,” he says, “we don’t know.” It is currently difficult for farmers and warehouse operators to plan ahead, not only because the fertilizer itself is becoming scarce. “The next problem is the lack of truck drivers to get the goods to the warehouses on time,” he reports. For this year, the fertilization is already done: In autumn you can only use limited fertilizer on the fields, for example in small amounts at the end of August for summer rape. In the spring, after the frost, the fertilizer season begins until May. Jakob Kraus is lucky and can get liquid manure and biogas from his son-in-law’s farm, which can be used to fertilize winter wheat or silo maize. According to Kraus, however, this is not an alternative for potatoes or spring barley.
“We stocked up on fertilizer for next year when Nord Stream 1 was first shut down in July,” says Ludwig Huber from Zehmerhof in Pliening, “at an amazing price.” The fluctuations in the fertilizer price are currently huge. Nevertheless, he warns: “If you haven’t stocked up on fertilizer now, you can be left without it in the spring.” The fertilizer can be stored in silos or so-called big bags – i.e. large sacks made of synthetic fabric. “But you shouldn’t store it in the silo for too long,” says Huber. So bunkering fertilizer for the next few years is not a solution either. Still, he tries to see the positive. “Even if the harvest in Germany is lower, we still have the opportunity to buy on the world market,” he says. “People in poorer countries can’t do that, then it’s a question of existence.” In addition, one should not forget that the grain price is currently good – albeit very volatile. Because if the price of grain falls overnight and you have paid a lot in advance for the overpriced fertilizers, you will quickly be left empty-handed. Huber sums it up like this: “The risk for farmers will be high.”