DTN Retail Fertilizer Trends
Wednesday, October 28, 2026 4:50AM CDT
LINCOLN, Neb. (DTN) -- Seven of the eight fertilizer prices tracked by DTN show month-over-month increases for the third week of October, with one nutrient showing a significant increase. It is the fourth consecutive week that all but one fertilizer increased in price. UAN28 led the way with a 6% increase in price from $423 per ton to $447/ton. DTN designates a significant move as anything 5% or more. Two fertilizers tracked by DTN, UAN32 and potash, reported 2% price increases since last month. UAN32 increased from $479/ton to $486/ton, while potash jumped from $498/ton to $506/ton in this latest update. There were three nutrients tracked by DTN that saw price increases of 1% each, including anhydrous, MAP and DAP. The price of anhydrous jumped from $977/ton to $987/ton, while MAP increased from $970/ton to $983/ton, and DAP spiked from $926/ton to $939/ton. The price of 10-34-0 increased by just $4 to $705/ton. Just one fertilizer, urea, saw its price drop slightly from $675/ton to $674/ton. On a price per pound of nitrogen basis, the average urea price was $0.73/lb.N, anhydrous $0.60/lb.N, UAN28 $0.80/lb.N and UAN32 $0.76/lb.N. A new global dataset from the University of Minnesota's Institute on the Environment found that global fertilizer consumption doubled since 1980, while also finding that China and parts of Europe took steps to reduce usage. The dataset provides specific application rates for nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium fertilizers for every country from 1980 to 2022. The study also found countries with low nutrient application rates 40 years ago, including Ethiopia and Vietnam, have been moving toward higher fertilizer use rates. Some regions of the world, including sub-Saharan Africa, are using minimal fertilizer. "The team compiled 800,000 existing data points, building imputation software to complete the picture," according to a news release from the University of Minnesota. "The resulting dataset includes application rates for 156 crops plus pastures and forests, providing the first-ever picture of all three major nutrients, at the individual crop level, in a continuous global record." All eight fertilizers are now higher in price compared to one year earlier. DAP is 1% higher, potash 4% is more expensive, UAN32 is 4% higher, MAP is 5% higher and 10-34-0 are 6% more expensive, UAN28 is 8% higher, urea is 13% more expensive and anhydrous is 17% higher looking back 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. In addition to national averages, MyDTN subscribers can access the full DTN Fertilizer Index, which includes state averages, here: https://www.mydtn.com/….
Todd Neeley can be reached at todd.neeley@dtn.com Follow him on social platform X @DTNeeley (c) Copyright 2026 DTN, LLC. All rights reserved.
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