Retail fertilizer prices start 2025 mixed

Continuing the same trend as at the end of 2024, prices for all eight major fertilizers saw no significant movement in either direction during the first week of January 2025. DTN designates a significant move as anything 5% or more.

Average retail prices for five fertilizers were slightly higher than the previous month. Those were potash, which had an average price of $444 per ton, 10-34-0 $615/ton, anhydrous $735/ton, UAN28 $326/ton and UAN32 $365/ton.

Prices for the remaining three fertilizers were slightly lower than a month ago. DAP had an average price of $738/ton, MAP $808/ton and urea was at $490/ton.

On a price per pound of nitrogen basis, the average urea price was $0.53/lb.N, anhydrous $0.45/lb.N, UAN28 $0.58/lb.N and UAN32 $0.57/lb.N.

The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, as well as partner institutions, have received $5 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Energy Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) to develop a new variety of corn called NSave. This new variety will reduce nitrogen fertilizer use and greenhouse gas emissions while maintaining crop yields, according to a news release from the university.

The Illinois-led project will integrate traits from teosinte, a wild relative of corn, to conserve nitrogen and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, while at the same time increasing nutrient use efficiency of corn. NSave corn aims to lower costs for farmers and reduce the country's reliance on foreign fertilizer imports.

"Implementing NSave traits in commercial maize will require no new infrastructure, and will lower fertilizer costs and nitrate runoff, reducing risk to growers, improving the environmental impact of agriculture, and facilitating adoption in new markets, such as sustainable aviation fuels," said Angela Kent, head of the project and professor in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences.

Researchers from North Carolina State University, the University of Arizona and Oak Ridge National Laboratory are also involved.

Three fertilizers are now higher in price compared to one year ago. MAP is 1% more expensive, while both DAP and 10-34-0 are 2% higher looking back to last year.

The remaining five fertilizers are lower. UAN28 is 3% less expensive, anhydrous is 5% lower, both urea and UAN32 are 7% less expensive and potash 13% lower compared to last year.

DTN gathers fertilizer price bids from agriculture retailers each week to compile the DTN Fertilizer Index. DTN first began reporting data in November 2008.