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Urea Prices Return to Pre-Iran War Levels in the U.S.

By Ryan Hanrahan

Bloomberg’s Anuradha Raghu, Sara Bapat, and Agnieszka de Sousa reported that “the Iran war risk premium that swept through crop and fertilizer markets is rapidly evaporating as fears of prolonged supply disruptions fade, easing one of the biggest threats to food inflation.”

“Prices of urea — one of the world’s most important crop nutrients — have plunged more than 30% since mid-April, wiping out the gains triggered by the conflict,” Raghu, Bapat and de Sousa reported. “That’s dragging down prices of corn, wheat and other farm products, with the Bloomberg Agriculture Spot Index tracking 10 of the world’s most-traded crops falling to its lowest level since March 5 on Friday.”

“It’s a dramatic reversal from the early weeks of the war when the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz choked off about a third of globally traded urea supplies, sending prices soaring and leaving farmers scrambling for alternatives,” Raghu, Bapat and de Sousa reported. “The decline may curb farm input costs and slow the pace of food inflation, but experts caution that energy prices remain elevated, while fertilizer is still sensitive to flare-ups in Middle East tensions.”

Crops

Bloomberg’s Ilena Peng reported that “prices for granular urea in New Orleans dropped to $453.50 per short ton, the lowest level since Feb. 6, according to Friday data from Bloomberg Green Markets. That’s down 36% from mid-April, when markets spiked to the highest levels since 2022.”

Source : illinois.edu

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Dicamba Returns for Georgia Farmers: What the New EPA Ruling Means for Cotton Growers

Video: Dicamba Returns for Georgia Farmers: What the New EPA Ruling Means for Cotton Growers

After being unavailable in 2024 due to registration issues, dicamba products are returning for Georgia farmers this growing season — but under strict new conditions.

In this report from Tifton, Extension Weed Specialist Stanley Culpepper explains the updated EPA ruling, including new application limits, mandatory training requirements, and the need for a restricted use pesticide license. Among the key changes: a cap of two ½-pound applications per year and the required use of an approved volatility reduction agent with every application.

For Georgia cotton producers, the ruling is significant. According to Taylor Sills with the Georgia Cotton Commission, the vast majority of cotton planted in the state carries the dicamba-tolerant trait — meaning farmers had been paying for technology they couldn’t use.

While environmental groups have expressed concerns over spray drift, Georgia growers have reduced off-target pesticide movement by more than 91% over the past decade. Still, this two-year registration period will come with increased scrutiny, making stewardship and compliance more important than ever.