Touted as a first-of-its kind foliar-applied nitrogen, alignN 18-0-0 is formulated for nitrogen-demanding crops like canola and wheat. It gives growers the ability to apply encapsulated urea nitrogen directly onto and into the leaf, where it is absorbed for maximum intake and metabolism while reducing nutrient loss.

“Canadian growers now have a new way to protect their precious fertilizer investments,” said Norm Davy, president and chief commercial officer for Tidal Grow AgriScience.

“Our precise formulation of alignN allows nitrogen to bond electrostatically to the plant, helping keep it available under challenging conditions and reducing losses from volatilization, leaching, and runoff.”

The company said AlignN demonstrated effective in-season nitrogen response on wheat with up to 22 increase increase in flag-leaf diameter, a boost in protein content, and increased yield by up to seven per cent, with net returns offering $10-$25 per acre. This despite “extreme drought” conditions.

Similar results appeared in canola trials with increased yield of up to 10 per cent and more than one per cent boost in oil content, with net returns of $15-$35 per acre.

AligN is compatible with most herbicides, fungicides, and other nutrient inputs.

The post New foliar-applied nitrogen enters Canadian market appeared first on Canadian Cattlemen.

Researchers at the university used CRISPR gene editing technology to increase a naturally-occurring chemical that allows the wheat to fix nitrogen according to a November 25 report from ScienceDaily.

WHY IT MATTERS: Nitrogen fertilizer is an enormous cost for Canadian farmers — not to mention a source of tension due to potential environmental impacts.

“For decades, scientists have been trying to develop cereal crops that produce active root nodules, or trying to colonize cereals with nitrogen-fixing bacteria, without much success. We used a different approach,” said Eduardo Blumwald in the report.

Blumwald is a distinguished professor in the University of California, Davis plant sciences department.

“We said the location of the nitrogen-fixing bacteria is not important, so long as the fixed nitrogen can reach the plant, and the plant can use it.”

Researchers, led by Blumwald, examined 2,800 chemicals that plants make naturally and identified 20 that could encourage nitrogen-fixing bacteria to form biofilms, the report said.

Biofilms are sticky coatings that wrap around the bacteria and produce a low-oxygen environment suitable for nitrogen fixation.

The team identified the genes involved in the process of making these biofilms. They then edited the wheat plants to create more of the related compound, called apigenin. The plants produce more apigenin than they need and the excess is released into the soil.

In experiments, the surplus stimulated soil bacteria to protective biofilms that allowed them to fix nitrogen in a form usable to the wheat plants.

Blumenwald noted that about 500 million acres are planted with cereals in the U.S.

“Imagine, if you could save 10 per cent of the amount of fertilizer being used on that land,” he said. “I’m calculating conservatively: That should be a savings of more than a billion dollars every year.”

The advancement could also support farmers in developing countries.

“In Africa, people don’t use fertilizers because they don’t have money, and farms are small, not larger than six to eight acres,” Blumwald said. “Imagine, you are planting crops that stimulate bacteria in the soil to create the fertilizer that the crops need, naturally. Wow! That’s a big difference!”

The university has a pending patent application for the wheat. Bayer Crop Science provided some of the research funding.

The post California researchers create nitrogen-fixing wheat appeared first on Canadian Cattlemen.

“By using legumes appropriately, we can increase farmer independence by reducing the need for purchased off-farm inputs,” Undersander said, explaining that fertilizer is a big contributor to GHGs.

“It’s amazing how much (energy) it takes to produce a ton of nitrogen, but then, at the same time, how much that costs you. Potassium has also gone up in cost and is a significant input.”

Considering that cost, it makes sense to find ways to avoid purchasing those off-farm inputs. This is where perennial forages come in, Undersander told the Canadian Forage and Grassland Association’s 14th Annual Conference in Harrison Hot Springs, B.C. last November.

Nitrogen source

He referenced a 2009 Minnesota study that revealed the importance of legume credits from alfalfa. Researchers applied rates ranging from zero to 160 pounds of nitrogen per acre on alfalfa, then
planted corn after plowing it down. There was no difference in grain or silage yield among any of the five sites.

“The point is that if you plow down an alfalfa field, you can grow a crop of feed with no additional nitrogen fertilizer,” Undersander said. “That’s huge.”

He said the same is true for red clover, though not quite to the same extent. Studies at various sites with red clover interseeded into small grains such as oats or wheat for one year before corn showed anywhere from 70 to 140 pounds of N replacement per acre, demonstrating that farmers don’t need long-term stands to see results. Several other reports showed that nitrogen was released from red clover at the time of the season when corn needed it most.

“We should be thinking about these crops not just as a good forage, which they are, but as a nitrogen fertilizer source,” Undersander said, adding the real advantage of clover or manure is that the N is “available slowly as the season goes on, so you don’t lose it like you could a commercial fertilizer source.”

While about 40 per cent legume in a forage stand is ideal for providing enough nitrogen for the grass, Undersander said that assumes plants are healthy.

Less diesel, more yield.

Another study Undersander was involved in examined published literature and tallied the diesel used for each action in producing a crop. He said the study revealed it takes 42 gallons of diesel to raise one acre of corn. But if the commercial nitrogen application was replaced with alfalfa, the equivalent rate dropped to 21 gallons per acre.

“That was a 49 per cent savings in the diesel fuel in the greenhouse gas equivalent. That’s a big deal.”

Undersander said maintaining legumes in rotations provides other yield benefits.

“There is lots of data to show that corn following alfalfa yields 20 per cent more than corn following corn. That 20 per cent yield increase with the current corn price of $470 per tonne in Canada is $1,000 per hectare.”

Other benefits

Undersander said soil health is another benefit from forages. Legumes are associated with water-holding capacity and drought tolerance because of their deep taproots. Several types reach six to eight feet deep and measure a half inch in diameter. These taproots create channels through the soil which attract worms and other microorganisms, and promote air and water movement deeper into the profile so it is available later, and to help the field drain faster after a rain.

“It’ll help them on the surface and it’ll help them hold water for later on in the season,” Undersander said.
Legumes also stimulate conditions which improve soil health and resilience. He said one example is glomalin, a protein found along the taproot, which binds soil particles.

“So when you have a legume growing in the soil, you get bigger particles of soil, which are good for water infiltration, movement and so on.”

This helps aggregate stability, increasing pore space and tilth and reducing soil erodibility and crusting. Maintaining a permanent cover can also help in highly erodible or sensitive areas.

Short rotations

Undersander offered advice to help producers maximize forage yields. One recommendation was shorter rotations to take nitrogen credits and yield benefits more often, rather than trying to maintain the stand an extra year or two. He suggested two- or three-year stands for alfalfa, for example.
“Certainly for clovers, one year is adequate to work.”

A second piece of advice was to plant fungicide-coated seeds. “We put fungicide on corn and soybeans and we don’t put it on alfalfa and clover and then complain when we get a poor stand.”

Access to the recording of Undersander’s session, as well as the other sessions at the CFGA’s 14th annual conference, is available for purchase. For more information email info@canadianfga.ca.

The post More N, more yield, less diesel appeared first on Canadian Cattlemen.

Potash prices have been falling after shipments from Belarus and Russia resumed. These exports had been significantly restricted last year following Western sanctions imposed on Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine.

Demand for fertilizers was also weak during much of the year, analysts have said, as farmers waited for prices to settle down.

Potash prices averaged $250 per tonne during the reported quarter, the company said, compared with $633 per tonne a year earlier (all figures US$).

The company’s U.S.-listed shares fell three per cent after the bell.

Nutrien said potash sales volumes, however, climbed 23 per cent on strong sales in North America.

Fertilizer inventories in the U.S. had been running low which should result in relatively robust demand, BofA Global Research analyst Steve Byrne had said ahead of the earnings.

On an adjusted basis, Nutrien reported earnings of 35 cents per share for the three months ended Sept. 30, compared with the average analyst estimate of 64 cents, according to LSEG data.

Nutrien, the top U.S. agricultural retailer, also narrowed its adjusted earnings forecast for 2023 to a range of $4.15 to $5 per share, compared with a range of $3.85 and $5.60 earlier.

The company forecast fourth-quarter fertilizer demand would be up five to 10 per cent year-on-year.

Nutrien added it was lowering its nitrogen sales volume forecast due to the unplanned outages in the third quarter and pull-forward of a planned maintenance outage at its Borger site in the current quarter.

— Reporting for Reuters by Sourasis Bose in Bangalore.

The post Nutrien misses quarterly profit estimates as potash prices plummet appeared first on Canadian Cattlemen.

Samuel Taylor, a New York City-based farm inputs analyst for RaboResearch Food and AgriBusiness, delivered a presentation on the fertilizer market during the firm’s Fall Harvest Outlook webinar on Oct. 25.

Taylor presented a fertilizer “affordability index” which is measured using global fertilizer prices against global crop prices with a baseline of zero. Last September, the value was 0.01, down from around 0.25 in July. By comparison, the index had fallen to minus 0.65 in Jan. 2022, its lowest value since the Great Recession of 2008. Despite this, the index, and the worldwide affordability of fertilizers, are expected to improve into July 2024.

Separated by fertilizer type, potash had the best affordability index value at 0.32 (historical average at 0.11) in September, followed by phosphates at 0.07 (average at 0.11) and nitrogen at minus 0.19 (average at minus 0.04). Taylor predicted global nitrogen prices to increase by more than five per cent, while global prices for potash and phosphates will remain virtually unchanged.

RaboResearch Food and AgriBusiness also estimated a three per cent year-by-year increase in global fertilizer usage in 2023 and further projected a five per cent rise in 2024.

“Since (the Russian invasion of Ukraine), we’ve seen a rationalization towards fundamentals. A lot of the price action was built on timing and also capacity of supply and demand,” Taylor explained. “There’s a little bit of clarity there and a little bit more re-establishment of supply chains.”

In North America, Taylor added that year-by-year, prices for ammonia will be down 50 per cent, potash retreating by 44 per cent and phosphates pulling back by more than 10 per cent. In addition, prices for herbicides will be cut 50 per cent, fungicides 40 per cent and insecticides 25 per cent.

“From a cost-structure standpoint, there are some positive elements that you can point to,” he said.

However, Taylor warned the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict could cause additional issues. In 2021, Israel produced 3.96 million tonnes of potash and 1.07 million tonnes of phosphates — seven and two per cent of global market share, respectively.

“As far as we’re aware, (Israel is) functioning as normal,” Taylor added. “However, within the context of quite a large mobilization, there is the risk in the future that there could be some disruptions to logistics, to manufacturing. But there is nothing to report on (now).”

— Adam Peleshaty reports for MarketsFarm from Stonewall, Man.

The post More affordability, usage of fertilizers in 2024, analyst says appeared first on Canadian Cattlemen.

While higher fertilizer prices dented demand in early second-half of last year, a fall in prices later in the year did not boost demand as farmers further awaited pricing trends to stabilize. Nutrien also said there was a “historic decline” in potash shipments in the second half of 2022.

“Growers are hesitant to step into the market with falling fertilizer prices,” Jason Newton, chief economist and head of market research at Nutrien, told Reuters.

Newton, however, expects the reduced fertilizer prices and strong crop prices to support demand as spring arrives.

The company forecast 2023 adjusted earnings in the range of $8.45 to $10.65 per share, compared with analysts’ estimate of $11.62 per share.

Excluding items, it reported earnings of $2.02 per share for the three months ended Dec. 31, compared with analysts’ average estimate of $2.62 per share, according to Refinitiv data.

The company also raised its dividend by 10.4 per cent to 53 cents per share and said its plans to reduce its share-count by five per cent.

Its peer CF Industries also reported lower sales, and said global nitrogen availability loosened in the fourth quarter with weak industrial demand in Europe being one of the reasons.

Yet, higher fertilizer prices helped the company post fourth-quarter net earnings of $860 million or $4.35 per share, compared with $705 million or $3.27 per share, a year ago.

— Reporting for Reuters by Sourasis Bose in Bangalore.

The post Nutrien misses profit estimates amid higher fertilizer prices appeared first on Canadian Cattlemen.

I agree that we should reduce fertilizer use and that we need to worry about the environment, but we also have to worry about the people. Farmers’ livelihoods are at stake and we are asking them to change. It is not a secret that farmers in general do not like change. Why? Because farmers are mostly “ants.” It is just who they are.

If you have ever taken one of my schools, you will know that human resources is the most important part of my business and understanding personality styles is a very big part of that. 

In my personality test, there are four basic types of personalities:

• The dragonfly – very dominant and direct.
• Butterflies – social butterfly in the group.
• Ants – hardworking but resistant to change.
• Bumblebees – the perfectionist.

Not everyone is just one style or another. We might be a blend of two or three. But one style might see things differently than another. It is not surprising that some professions will attract one style of personality more than others. For example, bankers and accountants tend to be bumblebees, police officers and teachers tend to be dragonflies and sales and marketing professions attract the butterflies.

In agriculture, we end up with more ants. This personality style needs consistency. They are predictable, patient, understanding and good listeners. They are hard workers and will get the job done. However, they may be resistant to change and may rather do the job themselves.

And now the world wants these ants to change and cut nitrogen use? Good luck with that.

[RELATED] Canada can cut fertilizer emissions 14 per cent by 2030, industry groups say

A much more effective way to encourage change would be to provide education and incentives to work with farmers in addressing the issues. An ant needs to desire change, it can’t be forced.

What if we could show the ants that it is in their best interest to find another way to acquire nitrogen? Maybe a more economical way?

I have shared the results of Darrin Quallman’s research a few times about the Canadian farmers’ net farm income over the last hundred years. He shows that since about 1985, the Canadian farmers’ net income had declined drastically (not counting farm support payments). It is quite alarming when you see the graph showing these results. Most of the farmer’s dollar goes to the ag industry and a big chunk of this goes to crop inputs.

Could we help the farmer find another way? Nitrogen is a huge part of the farmer’s way of life so let’s look to see if we can get it a little cheaper. How do we get it?

Did you know that the air we breathe is 78 per cent nitrogen? We can also store nitrogen in the soil but is there a way to store more?    

Most producers understand that we can get nitrogen from legumes. However, it is actually the rhizobium bacteria (“little biology”) associated with the legumes that pull nitrogen from the air. They then give the nitrogen to the plant in exchange for some sugar. Seems like a fair trade, right? 

[RELATED] Rebuilding or replacing forage stands

There are also free-living bacteria in the soil that can acquire nitrogen and do the same thing. To get more nitrogen, we need to provide an environment that supports these bacteria. One of the downsides to our current agriculture model is that many of the inputs that we use, including fertilizer, are detrimental to our soil life. It is a downward spiral. Are we able to show the farmer that it would be in their best interests, in the long run, to get off this downward spiral? Let’s show them that nitrogen is free. It is all around us.

How about increasing nitrogen storage? Over the years, the carbon content has been dropping on a lot of our agricultural land. We lose carbon from the soil when we till, we lose some more from erosion and we lose some more by selling our crops which export nutrients from the land. My concern is that when we reduce carbon in our soil, we also reduce the ability of the soil to store nitrogen, as our soil biology tries to balance the ratio of carbon to nitrogen.

Instead of adding nitrogen, let’s focus on increasing the carbon content in our soils. I know that sounds like a long-term goal but on our farm, we have increased our soil organic matter from 5.2 per cent to 11 per cent in just 12 years. That is half a per cent per year. Can we do this on our croplands as well? I think we can. As an example, one of my neighbours cut his nitrogen fertilizer in half this year and used alfalfa pellets instead. He said the pellets were cheaper and his crop looked fantastic in July. I thought that was a great idea and I hope it works for him. I’m thinking the pellets will add carbon to the soil and slow-release nitrogen plus all sorts of other nutrients that might take years to show results. I would suspect that cutting all the fertilizer and just going with all pellets would not work. The soil needs to be weaned off artificial nitrogen slowly.

A huge step forward to acquiring more fertility in our cropland would be to reintroduce livestock (“big biology”). This way we would start to recycle nutrients into the system. Cropland needs perimeter fences again. In our area, most of the fences have been removed.

We are working with a local grain farmer to bring some cropland back to life. We put up the fence and will be grazing it for four years. I call it a graze fallow. All of the nutrients will be recycled back to the land over that period, and we will focus on building the soil biology. This will also start to increase the carbon content of the land. After four years, the land will be returned to crop production. Our goal is to increase the percentage of carbon in the soil and therefore increase the available nitrogen. We can use big biology to increase little biology. I believe that livestock should be a part of every crop farmer’s rotation.

Acquiring nitrogen and healing the land this way will take time. I know the issue here is the enormous debt load that most farmers carry. Payments won’t wait for us to heal the land. Again, it is a downward spiral of debt. When should we jump off?

We do not have a fertility issue in agriculture, we have a biological issue. We need both the big biology and the little biology to heal the land.

Again, we can’t forget about the human part of this equation. Can we work with our farmers and come up with some solutions that will not only reduce our environmental concerns around nitrogen but also address the farmers’ economical concerns? Can we allow some time for our ants to change? I think we can, but we need more research. So far, there has been very little research in regenerative cropping practices. We need time to make some mistakes and figure some of these things out. 

As farmer and author Joel Salatin says, “If something is worth doing, it is worth doing poorly first.” Right now, it is only the innovators and early adopters who are financing these mistakes. It is time to get some research behind this. This research is worth doing. Let’s start funding some mistakes.

Steve Kenyon runs Greener Pastures Ranching Ltd. in Busby, Alta. Visit the website or call 780-307-6500, email skenyon@greenerpasturesranching.com or find them on Facebook.

The post Farmers need nitrogen appeared first on Canadian Cattlemen.

Steve Biggar, associate vice-president of fertilizer and energy products for Winnipeg-based Richardson, said it was the right time for the company to launch CirrusX because of new treaters the company has installed to allow liquid products to be applied onto granular fertilizers.

“Over half of our locations have these new treating systems and most of our customers are able to access the technology either at their local site or at a neighbouring Richardson location,” he said.

CirrusX, a liquid product, could be used in combination with granular fertilizers to improve efficiency of the fertilizer and control loss of nitrogen due to volatilization, denitrification and leaching.

Biggar said that Richardson chose a nitrogen stabilizer as its first proprietary crop input because having the new treating equipment made entering the market easy.

“For us it made sense because we have control over the whole supply chain in terms of bringing the material in in totes, hooking those totes up to a treater that is attached to our fertilizer blender and then shipping out the blends to our customers,” he said.

CirrusX is already on the market and available for purchase, but those looking to get their hands on CirrusX will have to go directly to a Richardson Pioneer location. Biggar said CirrusX is a Richardson Pioneer-exclusive product, and the company has no plans to wholesale the product to other retailers.

“Typically, how we would recommend a product like this would be through one of our agronomists or salespeople,” said Biggar.

Currently, there is no plan for Richardson to release a pricing deal for growers who already use their products.

“We have over 100 certified crop advisors who work with customers to develop individual crop plans. We’ll be approaching the market mainly through our own sales and agronomy people.”

Going forward, Richardson will be looking to gradually add to and expand its own line of products.

“We’re looking at other foliar micronutrient products,” said Biggar. “We probably would look at some crop protection products. We’re looking for products that have proven value and a good track record.”

Richardson hopes the launch of CirrusX will help its customers attain the 4R Nutrient Stewardship method to increase crop yields.

Richardson Pioneer, Biggar said, is a “firm supporter” of 4R, a framework meant to help farmers achieve optimal crop production by way of the four R’s: right fertilizer source, right rate, right time and right place.

“We know that growers don’t want to spend any more money on fertilizer than they have to, so having urea that is treated with CirrusX will allow growers to have the right nitrogen source and ensures the nutrients are available at the right time.”

Richardson believes its customers are sustainable growers and world leaders in following best practices when using fertilizer, he said. “We see CirrusX as just another tool to allow growers to increase their efficiency and reduce their environmental footprint.”

— Hannah Polk reports for Glacier FarmMedia from Regina.

The post Richardson makes first entry in branded crop inputs appeared first on Canadian Cattlemen.

Potash prices have soared since the West imposed sanctions against Russia for Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, crimping an already tight fertilizer market.

Russia and Belarus, which also faces sanctions, are the world’s second- and third-largest producers of the crop nutrient, while Canada is the No. 1 producer.

“The world needs these volumes in order to feed people well,” said Ken Seitz, Nutrien’s interim CEO, at a meeting with investors.

Seitz said it will take at least several years to replenish global crop supplies and for Russian and Belarusian potash trading volumes to return to normal levels.

Nutrien’s expansion falls well short of fully replacing the eastern European production. The world is short 10 million tonnes from that region and Nutrien’s extra output of three million tonnes annually by 2025 should be quickly absorbed, said RBC Capital Markets analyst Andrew Wong.

The potash ramp-up will use Nutrien’s existing mines in the province of Saskatchewan.

Wong estimated the expansion’s cost at $300 million to $900 million (all figures US$).

The company said it was advancing previously announced boosts of its nitrogen fertilizer capacity to add 500,000 tonnes annually by the end of 2025, and is considering further expansion.

Nutrien also said it plans to repurchase an additional $2 billion worth of shares.

— Reporting for Reuters by Rithika Krishna in Bangalore and Rod Nickel in Winnipeg.

The post Nutrien to further boost potash output amid global shortage appeared first on Canadian Cattlemen.

Top fertilizer producers including CF, Nutrien and Mosaic Co. have benefited as sanctions on exporters Russia and ally Belarus limited global supplies that were already tight.

Illinois-based CF, which operates the world’s largest nitrogen complex in Louisiana, said net earnings reached $883 million in the three months ended on March 31, compared with $151 million a year earlier (all figures US$). Net sales were $2.9 billion, up from $1 billion a year ago.

Nitrogen fertilizer is one of the most commonly used fertilizers to boost production of corn, canola and other crops.

Global inventories are “extremely tight” while demand is strong from farmers seeking to cash in on grain prices that have jumped as the Ukraine war is disrupting crop shipments from the Black Sea, CF said.

It will take at least two to three years to replenish global grains stocks after the invasion, CEO Tony Will said. Moscow calls its action in Ukraine a “special operation.”

The company said it shipped the highest quarterly volume of nitrogen by rail in North America in 10 years to meet demand and is chartering three times its typical volume of U.S.-flagged vessels to move liquid nitrogen to the U.S. coasts.

The average price for natural gas, used to make nitrogen fertilizer, was $6.48 per MMBtu in the quarter, compared with $3.22 in 2021, CF said.

— Reporting for Reuters by Tom Polansek in Chicago.

The post CF Industries profit soars as sanctions raise fertilizer prices appeared first on Canadian Cattlemen.