Government Needs to Step Up on Fertilizer Prices, Availability: GFO

Grain Farmers of Ontario (GFO) is calling for ‘common sense solutions’ and financial backing from government as producers in the province confront tight fertilizer supplies and skyrocketing costs ahead of spring planting.

The crops that will be grown in the province this year will be more critical than ever, given the expected drop in production and exports from the Black Sea region in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Ontario’s main farm organization - which represents some 28,000 barley, corn, oat, soybean growers - said in a statement Tuesday.

“We are driven to produce as much grain as we can, not only for our own province, but for the world,” said Brendan Byrne, chair, GFO. “We can’t do this without the full support of our government and industry partners. Farmers need immediate access to input supplies, including fertilizer and with fair pricing.”

An estimated 660,000 to 680,000 tonnes of nitrogen fertilizer is typically imported from Russia into eastern Canada each year, representing about 85% to 90% of the region’s needs. However, western sanctions against Russia in response to its aggression has thrown those imported supplies into question. Not only has punishing government tariffs on Russian-origin nitrogen made an already expensive product even more prohibitive, it also remains unclear whether vessels loaded with Russian product will even be permitted to unload at the Port of Montreal.

GFO said it recognizes that sourcing fertilizer from Russia is no longer sustainable and that alternative supplies will have to be sought out. However, the tight spring planting timeline makes that a difficult task for this year. In the meantime, the federal government needs to use ‘everything in its toolbox’ to make sure fertilizer is available for planting, GFO said. It also asked for common sense solutions in terms of ensuring adequate fertilizer supplies and fair pricing.

The GFO statement did not provide any specific examples of common sense solutions or what using everything in the toolbox might mean.

Last month, the Ontario Agri-Business Association (OABA) asked Ottawa to consider exempting from its 35% tariff any Russian fertilizer that was sourced prior to the tariff’s implementation in early March. It also requested any fertilizer that was in-transit be allowed to be unloaded in Canada. The OABA request has been backed by the Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario.

“Implementing a 35% tariff on fertilizer imports from Russia (and Belarus) on pre-existing orders, with minimal global sourcing alternatives at this late stage prior to spring, will severely impact already tight fertilizer supplies and escalated farm level fertilizer prices,” the Christian Farmers Federation said in a March 23 letter to federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau.

Given there is nothing within current government risk management programs that directly address high input costs, GFO also said producers also need to know there will be help if its needed.

“Farmers are poised to plant their crops to maximize their production, but action needs to be taken immediately by governments to avoid long-term consequences to the food supply system,” the GFO statement said.