Low commodity prices and high input costs a double whammy for Manitoba farmers

Manitoba farmers are facing a perfect storm of low grain prices and soaring fertilizer costs that are threatening profitability for both the current harvest and next year’s crop.

Current harvest delivery prices have fallen to $7 per bushel for hard red spring wheat, $13.25 for canola, $11 for soybeans and $4 for oats, representing harvest pricing typically seed at the lows of a pricing cycle.

On the cost side, fertilizer costs have climbed significantly from the numbers used in Manitoba Ag’s 2025 crop cost of production guide, which was compiled last November. 

Urea has jumped to $850-900 per metric tonne, about 30 per cent higher than the $690 per tonne used in those calculations.

Data from Manitoba Ag show a surge in crop production costs in 2022. 

Those have stayed elevated and, when combined with current grain prices, the cost pressure is particularly acute.