Marta Alcaide
For yet another year, the rise in fertilizer prices has an impact on the agricultural sector. According to the latest data available, in the month of June, the Fertilizer Purchasing Power Index (IPCF) increased by 8%. The average price of fertilizers increased around 5%, highlighting the rise in urea (15%) and monoammonium phosphate (5%).
José Antonio Gallego, farmer from la Moraña, Ávilacomments that, personally, this price increase has had a considerable impact on him. “If before it was around 340-350 euros per hectare, now it is around 550-600 euros, between fertilizers, seeds, diesel, etc.”
“We have gone from having benefits, which were already minimal (especially in my area), to having much smaller ones. In fact, we are having losses,” he says.
But this critical situation not only affects the final production, but the entire process. “Now, with the new PAC, Not only do we have to lower the dose of fertilizers that we apply, but we also have to divide the land more into fewer hectares, leave more fallow and plant more protein crops. In addition to reducing the use of fertilizers, we have also decided to more direct sowing, minimum tillage“We spend less time, less diesel, less iron, and production suffers,” says José Antonio.
On the other hand, Yago Delgado, technical director of ANFFE (National Association of Fertilizer Manufacturers), points out that “according to our statistics, the consumption of fertilizers in Spain in 2023 has been 3.7 million tons of product, 5 percent higher than the previous year. Although the market is recovering little by little, this figure is still well below the fertilizer consumption that was common in our country until 2020which was around 5 million tons annually.”
There is slight hope for long-term improvement and recovery. “Despite the current situation, according to our estimates, fertilizer consumption in the period July 2023-June 2024 would be around 3.94 million tons, which would represent a increase of 8% compared to the same period of the previous year,” he maintains.
José Ángel Cortijo, from Fertiberia, comments that: ““In order for the farmer to know how much fertilizer he should provide, he must have all the information possible about his working environment: the soil.”
“It is important to have information about the type of soil in a region, its texture and its composition. The rest of the factors depend on what the farmer himself has done: what tasks he has done, what rotations, whether he has incorporated plant residues, manure…
“For the farmer to pursue maximum productivity and profitability, he must obtain the most appropriate seed for his soil and climate, but also achieve the best implantation through fertilization,” says Cortijo.
Javier Alonso, technical Agro Cuéllar, He states that “given the current situation and with cereal being so cheap (around €200) farmers skimp on paying fertilizers. With 300-400 kilos of fertilizer we have more than a ton of cereal to start and it is a lot of money. But the answer is still clear: neither pay less nor not pay. Perform efficient fertilization.”
As? “As a technician we recommend that it is important that you do a background or cover fertilizer with controlled release fertilizers.”
Fertilization is very important for cereal, especially for ryes, which are planted very early and fertilization is done in autumn. In addition, the use of nitrogen is now limited. Depending on the area, the soils are more vulnerable or not.
“We recommend more controlled release fertilizers and less nitrogen. That is, the use of more technological fertilizers,” says Javier.
“The aid is not profitable”
The support or resources that farmers receive from the authorities continue to be a thorny issue. After last year’s price increase, a series of subsidies were granted that did not have very good results. “In the end it is not profitable for us because we have to declare them and we end up having to pay more money when we go over the quota. It is not a plan for the future. “Raising the cereal would be your thing, but it’s not going to happen,” says José Antonio.
Although the cereal trend is currently on the rise, we will have to see what happens and how it influences the sector.
International prices drop
The sector of fertilizers continue to recover after the significant increase in the price of their raw materials that occurred between 2020 and 2022motivated, among other reasons, by the Covid-19 pandemic and later the war in Ukraine.
“Fortunately, this serious situation has been attenuated since 2023, with a general drop in international prices, which has allowed a certain recovery,” says Yago from ANFFE.
“The farmer sometimes reduces the purchase of fertilizers due to the volatility of their prices or the lack of rainfall among other causes, but their application represents an investment that generates a high profitability,” he maintains.
One thing is clear, the future of agriculture will continue to suffer bumps unless the situation stabilizes or measures are taken that are profitable for farmers, the eternally forgotten ones.
