NH3 costs the same in Saskatchewan and Montana

I’ve given examples the past week or so of how Canadian prices are more expensive than U.S. prices — but that was for hotels, groceries and vehicles. At the time, I didn’t have any specifics on farm input prices. Now I do. I’ve come across a study by Thomsen Corporation, presented to the Parliamentary agriculture committee, that shows a surprising degree of parity on both sides of the border.

This is an up-to-date study, with fertilizer and Roundup comparisons for May 2008. The study compared prices in Canadian provinces versus prices in neighbouring states. Here are some examples of prices (in Canadian dollars) for inputs in Saskatchewan versus Montana: Anhydrous ammonia was $1,000.67 per tonne in Saskatchewan and $1,005.70 in Montana. Monoammonium phosphate was $1,326.63 per tonne in Saskatchewan and $1,325.81 in Montana. Urea was $640.00 per tonne in Saskatchewan versus $696.74 in Montana. And Roundup Transorb was $10.80 per litre in Saskatchewan and $13.09 in Montana. There are many more comparisons for other fertilizer products and for other provinces and states. For the complete study, click on the link below. 

The Thomsen study also compared the rise in fertilizer and glyphosate prices over the past 12 months, not just for May 2008. It seems the rising Canadian dollar was in fact keep a lid on inflation. “Fertilizer and glyphosate prices rose dramatically on both sides of the border, with U.S. price increases exceeding Canadian price increases for all products,” the study concluded. “Phosphate fertilizer prices increased by the greatest amount, followed by potash, and then nitrogen fertilizer products.”

Thomsen study on prices