N fertilizer supply relatively secure for 2023, says Sollio Agriculture, as sanctions and tariffs continue

(SalfordGroup.com)

The CEO of Sollio Agriculture says there will be certain fertilizer products unavailable for the 2023 growing season, but that nitrogen fertilizer supply for purchases this fall and winter should meet the need of eastern Canadian farmers.

Casper Kaastra, head of the co-operative, says there are three key times of year for sourcing nitrogen. Last winter, when Russia invaded Ukraine and Canada implemented tariffs on Russian-sourced products, the sourcing cycle was in a critical back-fill period gearing up for spring.

Kaastra says Sollio had product in transit at the time, and had to wait over 10 days for clarity on tariffs and eventual delivery to Canada’s supply chain. The stress on logistics and delays added plenty of stress to fertilizer availability at the beginning of the 2022 planting season.

Right now, he says, the fertilizer supply chain is gearing up to get product secured for this fall. Russian product is still subject to a 35 per cent tariff, and that means it’s off the table for Canadian options.

“The big ones are the big ticket items are products like urea, and in UAN. In those cases, urea is much more globally traded globally manufactured — there are other origins, other sources. But with UAN, that presents some additional challenges for us to have the necessary supply for next spring,” Kaastra says.

Sollio Agriculutre is sourcing product to fill warehouses, but Kaastra anticipates challenges ahead to have plans in place to resupply those warehouses as the busy spring season hits.

His advice? Plan ahead and make your commitments early.

“I think with the time that’s in front of us, we can prepare ourselves accordingly, or we have a higher degree of confidence that we can prepare ourselves accordingly, to source the necessary supply for the region in time for next spring, we can we can make those preparations, we can find product from alternate sources, whether it’s North Africa, or Trinidad or, you know, other other regions around the globe. We can make those preparations, it’ll come at additional cost and an impact but But truthfully, we believe we can with the calendar, a space in front of us now, pivot and find alternative sources for next spring.”

Check out the full conversation between Kaastra and RealAgriculture’s Lyndsey Smith, below:

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